One Piece: Pirate Crew Grand Prix
by kilnorc
Summary: While taking a well earned vacation, the AxeHeads learn about an underground pirate race, run by pirates. Can the crew win the race, or will they go against old friends, or fall to new enemies?
1. Prologue

**One Piece: Pirate Crew Grand Prix**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece!**

**Kilnorc: Alright, a fic based on the fourth movie, and a fic that's a sequel to a sequel! Let's get it on!**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Prologue**

Captain Axe of the Axe-Head Pirates leaned on the railing of their ship, the _Tomahawk_, gazing out at the beautiful ocean around it. He and his crew of very interesting people had been sailing the Grand Line by themselves for awhile now. Not too long ago, they were dragged into a secret coup made by a Shichibukai to take control of the desert kingdom of Alabasta. During that journey, his crew met the Straw Hat Pirates, who were led by a young rookie by the name of Monkey D. Luffy.

Through the journey, the boy continued to surprise Axe. He was strong willed and very strong physically. He even took out the plotting Shichibukai, Sir Crocodile. Even though they freed Alabasta and helped it's Princess, Vivi Nefertari, from a great civil war, they still had to escape the Marines. Apparently, the World Government didn't want any news leaking out that it was because of pirates that Alabasta was saved.

Sighing, Axe looked down at the water, looking at his reflection in the blue. He loved the ocean, and the "pirating" life he had, even though he considered himself a treasure hunter instead of a pirate. In fact, his way of life brought him out to the deck now. For a treasure hunter, he hadn't found a single clue, map, or even a rumor about a treasure worth hunting.

"Man...ain't nothing to do...," he sighed again and kicked the deck idly, "Is it so hard to ask for something to do?! Something to hunt?! Hell, right now, I'd even go for a little Beli coin!"

As if on cue, the ship came to a jerking halt and Axe fell to the deck flat on his face.

Groaning, Axe lifted his head, eye twitching, "Sonofa...I asked for something good, not to run aground!" he climbde to his feet and walked to the bow of the ship and saw that the _Tomahawk_ was now halfway out of the sea and halfway onto a large, white, sandy beach. Beyond that was a thick, beautiful jungle that seemed to go on foreever.

"What the hell happened?!"

"Azu was probably drunk at the helm again,"

"No, he wasn't, I made sure that he didn't interfere with my navigations,"

Axe turned to see some of his nakama walking out of different areas of the ship. Among them were his first mate Devon, his navigator Chizuru, and his scout Dusty Wenata.

"Captain, what happened?" Chizuru asked politely, walking up to him.

Axe jerked a thumb to the beach, "We ran aground. I didn't even see the island coming, I was looking out at sea," he looked around, "Where's Niri, she's supposed to keep watch for stuff like this!"

"I think I saw her in her quarters with Pingu and Kirsty," Chizuru offered, "They're trying out the newest addition to the ship, courtesy of Azu,"

Axe scowled, "Newest addition?"

The captain entered the girls' quarters to find it empty. As he turned to leave, he saw something that wasn't there before. It was a trapdoor in the floor and a ladder going down. Steam was rising out of it. His scowl deepening, he climbed down the ladder to find...

"OH MY GOD! AXE YOU PERVERT!"

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

Axe gawked at what he saw. Below deck, just underneath the floor of the girl's quarters was a large, brand new tub filled with bubbling hot water and his doctor and sharpshooter.

"What...the...hell...is this?"

Niri glared at him. Even though she was still in her bathing suit, she still didn't like someone coming in without permission.

"This is the hot tub Azu made for us," Kirsty explained, her arms around the tub's edges, "Watcha think?"

"First off," Axe pointed to his doctor, "How the hell can you be in there, you ate a Devil Fruit!?"

"It depends on how much water is in contact with a User, I guess,"

"Oh...well...," he turned to Niri, "You were supposed to keep watch for land, but you didn't so now, we've run aground on an island!"

Niri and Kirsty looked at one another, then at him, "So?"

Axe's eye twitched, "Oi oi oi...just get dressed. While we're here, we're gonna check this place out," he looked around, "Where's Pingu, I heard he was with you?"

Niri pointed behind him and Axe turned to see Pingu sitting on a small chair wearing shades and a pair of swimming trunks.

"...that bird is one of the strangest things I've ever seen," the captain muttered as he climbed back up to the deck.

"But, he's so cute!"

-----

"Alright, lessee...what are we gonna do?" Axe looked at the island for a while, drumming his fingers along the railing of the ship, "Doesn't look like there's any civilized life here...,"

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do, Herman, get the barbecue grill out, bring ice, some of the drinks and anything we can cook and you can help make a camp halfway between the jungle and the boat,"

"Got it!"

"Devon, go get some wood for the grill,"

"Screw you, I'm takin' a walk,"

"OI!"

Axe turned to see his crew walking around the ship, looking rather busy with different kind of loads in their arms.

"Uh...what's going on?"

Niri put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him, "Well, since you kinda interrupted our relaxation time, and since we _are_ at a beautiful island, why not make a vacation out of it?" she suggested with a shrug, "I figure it's the least we can get after what happened in Alabasta. Besides," she tapped the deck with her sandal, "_Tomahawk_ could use a fixer-upper job, and Azu can take this time to do what he can,"

"Well, yeah, but-,"

"Good, it's decided!" Niri walked by, patting him on the shoulder, "ALRIGHT GUYS, BEACH PARTY!!!"

Axe sighed as his crew shouted in agreement and shook his head. Looking at the happy nakama, he couldn't help but grin, "I guess it's time we _did_ have a vacation before setting sail again," he touched the large scar on his chest from Gaine's cleaver, "Time to rest and heal, I guess...,"

"Where's the rum?!"

"Azu, no drinking on the job!"

"Aw man, you suck Niri!"

_BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM_

"STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP!"

Axe shook his head, "Ai yi yi yi yi yi...,"

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Well, there's the first chapter folks! Now, I know I said that I'm gonna do Dead End Race, but first, some filler chapters-**

**Fans: -horrified screams-**

**Kilnorc: Hey, they need a good R and R, and if none of ya'll like it, I'll play the 4Kids version of the One Piece theme!**

**Fans: You don't have the guts, you're a big fan of the real deal!**

**Kilnorc: ... -english intro begins to play-**

**Fans: Kilnorc's not kidding, let's get outta here!**

**Kilnorc: -snorts- dayum straight!**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Devon: The _Kitetsu_ is a cursed blade, but is it one of the set? Does it belong with Zolo's cursed blade, or is it just a bad blade?**

**Kirsty: I don't know why you keep that sword. It's creeping us out and if it's cursed, just toss it!**

**Devon: Hm...**

**Kirsty: Devon, could you tell me more about yourself? I'd like to know more about you, please?**

**Devon: Fine...we got time to kill, and you already know about my secret. I'll tell ya what I can.**

**Memories of the Lost Angels**

**Devon: I'm not just looking for strength to avenge my mother...I'm looking for my father.**


	2. Memories of the Lost Angels

**Memories of the Lost Angels**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Devon sat against a large tree near the edge of the jungle, his jacket drapped over his shoulders and all four of his blades at his side. He closed his eyes and put his head against the bark, feeling the warm sun on his skin, the cool breeze in his hair, and listened as the waves sloshed back and forth from the shore.

_From the bloody warfront of civil war in Alabasta, to the calming beach of a beautiful island...I guess this is a reward for a weary warrior._

He opened his eyes and reached for the _Kitetsu_. Slowly, he unsheathed the blade and gazed at the smooth metal. He could see himself in it, but as he stared, he could feel the sword vibrate and a spark appeared here and there. Quickly, he sheathed the blade and thrust the sword into the sand.

"The _Kitetsu_ is a cursed blade, but is it part of that set? Does this blade belong with Roronoa Zolo's _Sandai Kitetsu_, or is it just a bad sword to have?" he thought aloud, rubbing his chin.

As he sat there, pondering, the sound of footsteps made turn to see Kirsty walking up to him.

"Oh, hey," the First Mate greeted, turning back to his view of the beach, "What's up?"

"Just thought I'd come to chat," the doctor said innocently, taking a seat next to him, "I heard what you were talking to yourself about...the _Kitetsu_? I don't know why you keep that sword. Personally, it creeps me and the others out, and if it's cursed, why not toss it?"

Devon looked at the blade, "Hm...,"

"Anyhoo," Kirsty scooted closer to him, "I was wondering about something,"

"Wassat, doc?"

"Could you tell me a little more about yourself and Austin?" she asked, looking at him, "I would like to know more about you two,"

Devon kept staring at the blades he had obtained in his travels and remained silent.

Kirsty tilted her head, "Please?"

The swordsman sighed, "Why not? We have time to kill, and you already know about me and Austin's secrets...so, I'll tell ya what I can,"

The doctor made herself comfortable, in case of a long story.

-Flashback-

**_East Blue, Roguetown, Seven Years Ago_**

_BAM BAM BAM BAM_

_"FATHER!"_

_BAM BAM BAM BAM_

_"FATHER! OPEN UP! PLEASE!"_

_The large church doors opened up and an elderly preacher stared down in shock at the sight of two young boys standing in the dead of night, soaked from head to toe thanks to the downpour of rain outside._

_"Good Lord! Devon, Austin, what on earth are you doing out here?" the preacher ushered the boys in, "It's very late, and you're out of bed, playing in the rain," he shook his head as he walked to the store room for some blankets, "I swear, your mother is going to have kittens,"_

_He brought the boys thick, dry blankets and while he watched them dry off, he noticed that something wasn't right with them. Austin had a very white face and his eyes were filled with fright, while Devon looked like he was seething while on the verge of crying._

_"Boys, what's wrong?" the preacher knelt down to their level, "You two look like you've seen a ghost,"_

_Devon shook his head, shivering, "M-Mother...,"_

_The preacher frowned, "What about your mother, Devon?" he asked quietly, "Did something happen to her?"_

_The blonde boy nodded._

_"Good Lord, Devon, what happened?"_

_"S-She's...sh-sh-she's...dead,"_

_The preacher's eyes went wide, "Oh my...wait here, I'll go alert the Marines!"_

_With that, the elderly man ran off to his office and Devon wrapped his brother in his blanket and brought him close into a hug._

_-----_

_"Oh shit...,"_

_"That's not right,"_

_Devon stood outside the door of his home, waiting while the Marines looked inside. He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep all night, but he didn't care. He had wanted to go inside, but none of the Marines would let him inside the small home._

_The young boy waited while they took pictures of the violent scene and cleaned up. After what seemed like forever, the Marines left the domicile, carrying a stretcher with the body of the boy's mother in it, the woman covered with a sheet with bloodstains._

_Devon stared at the stretcher while one of the Marines walked up and knelt in front of him._

_"Sorry, kid...I know this has got to hurt really bad right now, but some people hurt others for no reason,"_

_The boy looked back at the house, clenching a fist._

_"Look, the preacher said he'd take you and your brother in, so if you want to grab anything from inside, do it now,"_

_-----_

_"Austin," Devon looked down at his brother and took his hand, "Listen to me...we have to go, alright? We have to go, and do what we can. We have to become stronger, we have to learn to fight...we have to leave home!"_

_His now mute little brother looked up at him sadly, then clung to his waist. Devon rubbed the boy's back and hefted the large pack he was carrying, "It's gonna be okay, little brother. Don't worry...I'm tough...I can take care of you from now on. Neither of us will be alone...I promise,"_

_Taking his brother's hand again, Devon led his little brother onto a ferry and watched as his hometown, the place where was born and raised by his mother, disappear in the distance. He tightened his grip a little, a lump in his throat._

_"It's just us now, Austin...just us,"_

-End Flashback-

Kirsty stared at her nakama, "Devon...,"

The swordsman cracked his neck, "Wasn't until a while later that we were taken in by what I would call my second family...,"

"Second family?" Kirsty blinked, coming out of her stunned phase, "What kind of family?"

"...the family who protects one another..."

-Flashback-

**_Dojo of Odin, 5 years ago_**

_Devon stood in front of Austin, staring at a pair of grown men, who were twins and wearing black armor with kanji's painted in white. The two boys had been wandering the sea, taking passages and odd jobs, surviving as best they could. Devon quickly took up the art of nittoryu, but was unskilled in that way of combat. With the remaining possessions they had from their home, the two boys discovered uses of the strange Dials they had kept in their home thanks to some journals belonging to their father they had taken with them. __Sewing the dials into a pair of gloves, Austin and Devon discovered the power that can be used to defend themselves._

_After stowing away on a small supply boat, the two boys found themselves on an island that wasn't even drawn on any map known to the outside world. They had stumbled upon a civilization where both men and women were strong warriors, skilled in many forms of combat, and had large clans of families. After being discovered, the two boys were taken to a large dojo where the leaders of the island were living. Two of them were twin brothers by the names of Hugin and Munin, swordsmasters of the clans._

_"Little ones, why did you hide on our supply boat?" Hugin asked kindly._

_Devon glared at him, "We needed a ride...,"_

_"Of course, that makes perfect sense, brother," Munin nodded, smiilng, "Tell me, little one, where are your parents? Where is your family?"_

_"My little brother is the only family I have left," Devon hissed, "Our mother was murdered and I have no idea where my father is!"_

_Munin and Hugin exchanged startled looks._

_"Oh my,"_

_"Little ones alone in the world?"_

_"We must do something to help them!"_

_"Of course...I believe we need to speak to the Elder,"_

_The twins bowed to the boys, "Please excuse us," they said in unison, "We must meet with the Clan's Elder. You are more than welcome to stay with us as long as you wish. We have plentiful food and many warm beds. Eat and rest, little ones,"_

_Devon snorted as the twins left, "Whatever...," he tugged on his brother's hand, "C'mon, might as well do what we can here...chances are they'll contact the Marines and ship us off to an orphanage or something,"_

_-----_

_CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG_

_Devon panted as he failed to strike Hugin with his training katana. He and Austin had stayed with the clans, seeing as they had no where else to go, and this was better than any place they had been to. The oldest boy was offered a place among the clan. With that offer, he and his brother would have a family again, they would have a place to stay, a place to eat whenever they needed without begging or stealing, and a place to get stronger._

_Through some difficult days of thought, Devon thought it was best for them right now, and accepted the clan's invitation. Now, during the days, he trained in the arts of ittoryu and nittoryu against Munin and Hugin, growing stronger and stronger as time passed. Soon, he would become far stronger than he was before. Soon, he would be strong enough to do what he needed to do._

-End Flashback-

"The clan protected and raised us until we left the island on a mission to cleanse the earth of sinners," Devon rubbed his eyes, "Ever since that day, we've been looking for the swords, the power, and the man,"

"Man?" Kirsty raised an eyebrow, "What man? Are you after a wanted criminal?" she inquired.

Devon shrugged, "Who knows if he is wanted, _I_ don't know...but all I know is that he is out there, I can feel it! Austin can feel it too...he is out there somewhere, and I won't give up looking for him. Problem is, I don't know much about him," he pointed to his back, "These, the dials, and the journals we have are the only clues we have to him...,"

"So, the man you're looking for...,"

"Yep. I'm not only looking for swords to avenge my slain mother, I'm looking for my father,"

Kirsty blinked in surprise, "Your..._father_? The guy who left your family and never came back?"

Devon nodded slowly, "Yeah...I want to find him and find out why he never came back...I want to find out what happened to him,"

The two of them sat there, looking out at the ocean for awhile until finally, Devon rose to his feet and collected his swords.

"Where ya going?" Kirsty asked, getting to her feet.

"I'm gonna go find Macleod, see if he wants to spar. If not him, maybe someone else...," he looked at her, "You're welcome to join me if you want," he offered.

"Sure, I got nothing else to do right now,"

"Aren't you supposed to be helping Dusty get stuff for the camp, by the way?"

"Like I said...," Kirsty trailed off with a grin.

As the two of them walked down the beach, Kirsty kept glancing at Devon's back.

"You know...you're among friends here, Devon. We're like a big family,"

"What's your point?"

"Why not show the others yours and Austin's wings?" Kirsty suggested, tracing the lumps she could feel through the fabric of the mountain jacket, "You know that we wouldn't make fun of you,"

"Dusty would,"

"True, but she's like that...," Kirsty nodded thoughtfully, "O'course, if she does that, you could always just hang her over the side for bait, just like the rest of us do,"

"...I'll think about it,"

As the two of them walked down the beach, Austin poked his head out from behind a large tree and smiled at the two of them.

_Ready whenever you are big brother..._he thought, looking away from the duo, _She's nice and strong...perfect match for him. However, I might have to get some help pushing these two together..._ Austin tapped his fingers together in a mischevious manner, _I gotta plan this out carefully!_

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Well, there's that chapter done. Okay, first off, I'm sorry if the memories aren't as big or as detailed as ya'll would've hoped...but, no worries, 'cuz it's just a filler! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!**

**Axe: You are one sad, strange, little man...**

**Kilnorc: Shaddup you! Anyhoo, guys, I wasn't sure what to show from the brother's past...and after some careful thinking, I've revealed how old they were when the tragedy happened, and how long they been on their own. If it was bad, I got a couple of interesting chaps to make up for it before the race.**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Dusty: Damn! I gotta practice more...I finally get my final form and I can't get to it! How the hell do the other zoan's do it?!**

**Kirsty: Dusty, I got something that may help you! Chopper gave me the recipe, but it's still experimental...**

**Dusty: My own Rumble Ball? GIMME!**

**Crazy Like A Fox!**

**Dusty: HOLY SHIT!**


	3. Crazy Like A Fox!

**Crazy Like A Fox!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

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"Let's see...a little of this,"

"Herman?"

"A little of that,"

"Herman...?"

"A _lot_ of meat,"

"Her-man...!"

"Wonder what spice would be good for a beach party?"

"HERMAN! HERMAN, HERMAN, HERMAN, HERMAN, HERMAN, HERMAN, HERMAN!"

The lobster merman's stalk twitched as he sighed and looked behind him to see Dusty hopping up and down in the galley as he took foodstuffs from the galley's storage and freezer.

"_What_ is it, Dusty?" the chef asked exasperatedly, "I'm trying to get stuff for the barbecue ready!"

Dusty smiled widely, "Barbecue?! I LOVE BARBECUE! I love it, I love it, I love it, I lov-," she stopped suddenly as Herman pinched her lips together, shutting her up.

"Now, Dusty," Herman looked at her closely, "I'm gonna let go of your lips, and when I do, you are going to tell me what you were gonna tell me after you screamed at me, understand?"

"Mm-hmm," Dusty's muffled reply came as she nodded her head.

"Good," Herman let go, "Now...what's up?"

Dusty twiddled her fingers together, "Will you help me out with something?"

"That depends on what it is. I am _not_ letting you stuff Pingu into the freezer hogtied again!" the merman rubbed his arm, "I almost got blasted by Niri,"

The kitsune waved him off, "Nah, nothing like that. Remember what I told you happened to me, Austin and DJ-kun in Alabasta?"

Herman put down the foodstuffs and crossed his meaty arms, "You're referring to the incident where you finally unlocked your pure animal form, right?"

"Yep yep," Dusty nodded, "I've been trying to do that again, but I can't...can you spar with me? I think if I fight, I can unlock it again and when I do, I know what to do,"

The lobster merman shook his head, "I'm very sorry, Dusty, I would if I could, but with this barbecue I'm planning, I got to use every minute I can," he patted her head, then gathered up the foodstuffs, "Maybe when I'm not so busy, I will,"

Dusty sighed, her ears going limp, "Aw, man...,"

"However,"

Dusty turned to see Herman was heading towards the door, "However, _what_?"

Herman twisted a stalk around to face her, "Ever since she met him, Kirsty spent a lot of time with that Tony Tony Chopper doctor from Drum. They talked about everything...maybe she has some notes in her office about Zoan transformations?" he suggested.

Dusty grinned, "Really?"

"Yeah, why don't you go look," Herman shifted the weight of his cargo, "However, I'd ask for help otherwise you could get into tro-,"

"THANK YOU HERMAN! GOTTA RUN!" Dusty squealed, rushing past him.

Thanks to the kitsunes speed and brushing against him, Herman had to quickly regain his footing to keep the food from falling to the floor. After making sure they were still with him, the merman sighed and shook his head.

"I swear, if that energy is from sugar, I'm gonna hide every grain from her,"

-----

"What the hell...? DUSTY!"

The kitsune popped her out from under Kirsty's desk in the infirmary to see the young doctor standing in the doorway with Devon, both of them staring at the large mess that was before them. Drawers were threwn about, along with their contents, the cabinet doors were flung open, the belongings inside just shoved and tossed aside. Needless to say, it looked like a storm hit the infirmary.

Dusty waved at them, holding a couple of papers in her hand, "Hi guys. Kirsty, I hope it's okay, I'm just looking for some notes,"

"About what, breaking and entering?" Kirsty carefully stepped over the mess, "What on earth are you looking for?!"

"I'm looking for any notes you had made when you talked to Chopper before we split ways,"

"Why?"

"Because I need help with my transformation acts,"

"You mean your forms," Devon corrected.

Dusty threw a nearby chair at him, hitting the blonde swordsman in the face, "SHADDUP! THEY'RE THE SAME THING, BAKA!"

Devon hit the ground and the chair split apart, leaving him staring up at the ceiling, eye twitching violently, "Oi...,"

Kirsty rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Devon...go out and calm down. Dusty,"

"You're gonna help me?"

_WHAP!_

Dusty whimpered as she rubbed the new lump on her head, "Owie...,"

Kirsty shook her fist, "Look, I'm sorry for doing that, but you trashed an important room and tossed anything that could be important as well! What if I lost something very important?!" she snapped.

"I sowwy," Dusty plopped down onto the only empty space of the floor, her finger tracing the floorboards, "It's just that I wanna get that animal form down so I can be a better fighter. What if we go against Marines and I can't rush them or run away with injured people? I'll be usless,"

Kirsty looked at the sniffling Zoan-user and sighed, putting one hand on her hip while she scratched her head with another, "Alright, I _was_ gonna wait until later, but I guess now's a good a time as any,"

Dusty lifted her head, "What?"

"Look, I need time to clean up and prepare this, okay?" Kirsty bent down to her level, "Why don't you go and help out, or explore for awhile, then in a little bit, you meet me below deck where my training dummy is okay?"

Dusty scowled, "Don't talk down to me, I'm not a child!"

"I'll bring candy for you if you behave and lemme clean up," Kirsty offered.

"WHEE! CANDY!" Dusty practically flew out of the infirmary, leaving a trail of paper in the air as her wake.

Kirsty shook her head and pulled a mess of papers off her head, "Herman needs to hide the sugar,"

-A short while later-

Dusty rolled around in the sand, bored out of her skull as she waited for the crew's doctor to finish up and come back out. After what seemed like an eternity to her, Dusty saw Kirsty come down off the ship, carrying a small book and a paper bag in her hands.

Rising to her feet, Dusty shook out the sand from her hair and tail, "I was wondering if you forgot me,"

_Yeah, like you'd let me_ Kirsty thought as she approached the Zoan, "Okay, you said you needed help with your forms, correct?"

Dusty nodded, "Mhm,"

Kirsty held the small book up, "This is the info on Zoan's I got from both Kagura and Chopper before we split. So far, all I know is that normally, Zoan's have three forms. Now, you already have two of them, so let's try and do the last one, alright?"

Dusty nodded again, "Good, but how do we do that?"

"I have a theory," Kirsty opened up the bag she was carrying, "Before we split, Chopper gave me the recipe of the Rumble Balls he makes. Now, it's still experimental 'cause even he doesn't know what it'll do to other Zoan's besides him-,"

"Rumble Ball?" Dusty snatched bag away and looked in side to find an assortment of colored balls, roughly the size of baseballs inside, "Dude, I get my own Rumble Balls?!"

Quickly snatching the bag back, Kirsty wagged a finger, "Don't get so eager, fox, we still don't know if this'll help or hurt you,"

"Gimme!"

Kirsty whapped her again, "Pay attention!"

"OWIE!"

The doctor snapped her fingers, trying to get her friend's attention, "Look, you need to listen to me, closely, Dusty...if something happens, I'll have nightmares and major guilt over my head for the rest of my life,"

"Okay, okay, okay," Dusty rubbed her new lump, "I get it. What's next?"

Kirsty reached into the bag and pulled out a blue ball, "Try this one first. I've refined them all, but this one should be a good practice Rumble Ball,"

"How'd ya figure that?"

The doctor shrugged, "Call it intuition,"

"You mean a guess,"

"Want a new lump?"

"No," Dusty snagged the ball away from the doctor and popped it into her mouth, "_Rumble Ball_...,"

Kirsty raised an eyebrow, "Why'd you say that?"

Dusty shrugged, "Chopper always did it, I thought it'd be cool to say,"

Kirsty sweatdropped, "Well, do you feel anything yet?"

The kitsune tapped the ground, "Not really...I have an urge to do something though,"

"What?"

Dusty closed her eyes as she seemed to go into her animal form, but her hybrid legs remained. With a grunt, she pushed off the ground and Kirsty watched in astonishment as Dusty jumped so high in the air, she reached the top of the tree levels.

"DUSTY!"

The kitsune opened her eyes and looked at herself, "HOLY SHIT! What the hell is goin' on?!"

"I don't know, hang on!" Kirsty scrambled to open her book to the right page, "I got it! Chopper called this his _Jumping Point_! I've seen him do it back on Drum Island when we fought Wapol's men!"

Dusty screamed as she came back down, but she landed on her feet safely. The screaming died down and the scout looked around, feeling her body, "I'm not dead, right?"

Kirsty nodded, "Y-Yeah...," she looked at her book, "Man, this is cool! Chopper was a genius at making these things...,"

"What else can I do?!"

"Well, lessee...," Kirsty flipped through the pages, "There's the _Horn Point, Guard Point, Arm Point_...," she stopped at another page, "Oh my...,"

"What's wrong?" Dusty asked, reverting to her usual hybrid form.

Kirsty stared at the page, "I forgot this...but it seems that you _cannot_ take two Rumble Balls under six hours, or else you lose control of your forms,"

"Okay, that make sense,"

"And you must _not_, under _any _circumstance, eat three Rumble Balls under six hours,"

"Why, what happens then?"

Kirsty looked up from the book, "Bad mojo, Dusty, bad mojo,"

"How bad?"

"Imagine all life around you, as well as yourself in danger of being extinguished while you are helpless to do anything about it,"

Dusty gulped loudly, "Oh...okay...,"

Kirsty turned the book around and pointed to the page, "It says that it unleashes a monster,"

Dusty went pale, her tail sticking up on all ends, "Uh...o-okay, how about we just do what we can here?"

"Good call," Kirsty looked behind Dusty and frowned a little, "My, that must've really spooked you, you're tail's straighter than I've seen before,"

"Hm?" Dusty looked over her shoulder and wagged her tail, but was surprised to find that her tail felt heavier, and that not one of her tail hairs were going limp like they normally did when she was calm, "The hell? Kirsty, check this out," she swung her tail over to the doctor, but as she did, the blonde let out a yelp as the tail grazed her arm.

"What, what happened?!" Dusty turned around to see Kirsty holding her arm, blood dribbling down her arm, "Oh crap, what I do?"

Kirsty winced as the familiar white glow appeared under her hand, healing her arm, "I don't know, but something's wrong with your tail...," she walked over and lightly tapped the fur, "Whoa...,"

"What, what, what? What's wrong with my tail?!"

"Every hair is pointing straight out and each one feels sharp!" Kirsty looked up at her friend, "This is not mentioned in the book,"

"What, this can't be the _Guard Point?_" Dusty asked, swaying her tail a little.

Kirsty shook her head, "No, that's when you're in animal form and more fur pops out, making a strong shield for yourself...this is totally something new,"

Dusty hummed as she tested her strange new tail out. She walked over to a nearby tree and swung her tail across the bark. As soon as she made contact, a loud cracking sound was heard and a chunk of tree was ripped out, stuck to her tail fur.

"Dude...," she looked at Kirsty, a look of excitement in her eyes, "I think I just thought of a name for this,"

"What?"

"_Tail Point!_"

Kirsty hummed thoughtfully, "I guess that'll work. Perhaps, this is a substitute for the _Horn Point_?" she offered, "After all, foxes have no horns...,"

"WOOT! LOOK AT THIS!"

"DUSTY, WATCH OUT THE TREE'S-,"

"AACK!"

Kirsty looked away as the tree Dusty had swiped her tail at, which took a large chunk out of the trunk, fell ontop of her, "Ooh...please let the _Guard Point_ have kicked in...," she prayed. When she reached Dusty, she was relieved to find her alive and okay, despite the poor kitsune was dazed by the tree falling on her.

"Pretty...pretty birdies...,"

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Okay, there's Dusty's filler. Now, lemme say a few things alright? First off, I know there's no canon about another Zoan with the Rumble Ball, but after many questions and some requests, I've given Dusty her own Rumble Ball. Don't like it, tough.**

**Second, regarding Dusty's three forms. When I first made this series, I was unaware about the forms at the time, because I was a noob. But now, I'm afraid it's too late for me to turn back, so the forms you see with her usually, that's her three zoan forms. To those hardcore fans, I apologize for possibly screwing this up, but as I said, too late to change it now. Hopefully, it'll all turn out well for this series.**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Herman: Hm...drinks, snacks, the Captain's meat...this barbecue's missing _something_, but what?**

**Niri: Herman, you said you were exiled from Arlong. What was it like in the Calm Belt?**

**Herman: Dangerous, but every now and then, I would come across a small island. I tried my best to stay away, in case they thought ill of me, but there was _one_ island in particular...**

**Love of Food, Food of Love**

**Herman: When you cook a meal, you don't just have to put your love into the way you make it, but someone must have the heart to enjoy it. That's one of the many secrets of cooking..._heart_!**


	4. Love of Food, Food of Love

**Love of Food, Food of Love**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Herman stood in front of the table and barbecue pit he made for the party, looking at the collection of food he had prepared so far. There were many plates of sizzling meat, grilled fish, plentiful vegetables for salad, barrels of beer and bottles of wine.

The merman tapped his tail against the sand, "I have drinks, the Captain's horde of meat, veggies for health...this barbecue is missing something, but I have no idea what it is...," he scratched his head, "I hate it when this sort of thing happens with my meals,"

"What's wrong, Herman?"

Twisting his stalks around, Herman saw Pingu looking at him. Looking down, he saw Niri, the bird standing on the former Marine's head.

"Oh, hello, Niri,"

"Yo," Niri nodded, looking at the table behind him, "So, what are you missing from the barbecue?"

Herman sighed and shrugged, "I don't know...it's just _something_...it's in the back of my mind, but I can't get it out in the open,"

"I'm sorry," Niri sat down at the table, putting Pingu in front of her, "Need help with anything else?"

Sighing again, Herman sat down nearby, "No...I've got it all prepared, except that one missing piece," he drummed the table idly with his webbed fingers.

Niri frowned a little, _Poor guy...better get him to think about something else before he bums the party before it starts!_

She cleared her throat and leaned forward, "Herman, can I ask you something?"

The merman looked at her, "Hm?"

Niri propped her head on a hand, "You said you were exiled from Arlong, and spent time in the Calm Belt. What was it like there?"

Herman looked up at the sky and scratched his chin, "Dangerous at a lot of times, Niri...what, with all the Sea Kings, but every now and then I would come across a populated island. Of course, back then, I would try and stay away, in case it's inhabitants thought ill of me...," he trailed off, a look of content filling his eyestalks.

Niri raised an eyebrow, "Yoohoo?" she waved a hand in front of his face.

"There was _one_ island in particular, near the Calm Belt where I felt happy to be at, despite most of it's people,"

"Oh?" Niri poured herself a beer, "What was it like? What'd you do there?"

"Well...,"

-Flashback-

**_East Blue, Calm Belt, 4 Years Ago..._**

_"Son...of...a...bitch,"_

_Herman tugged hard on the carcasse of a Sea King he had just beaten onto the rocky and sandy shore of the nearest island. He was swimming through the waters, trying to find anything to eat without distubring many inhabitants of the Belt, but got caught between a Sea King and it's dinner. In defense, Herman clobbered the beast and dragged the body to the nearest island._

_The lobster merman wiped his brow, "Man, I'm either out of shape, or these things are getting tough, despite this being the East Blue...,"_

_As he measured the Sea King carcasse, trying to decide how much to cut away for his dinner, Herman heard noise from above him, on the main part of the island._

_"Guillaume, please tell me yer young'in isn't gonna be tryin' to cook the family gumbo, again?"_

_"Well, it ain't like I haven' tried to stop her, she jus' keeps tryin' no matter what anyone tells her! Besides, she's got the spirit of our family in her,"_

_"If you say so, Guillaume, but when are you finally gonna actually put a stop to her foolish dream? She can't cook fer shit, and everyone who's tried has either croaked or been put to bed rest!"_

_"Alright, now I think you're exaggeratin', Sebastion,"_

_"If you think so, Guillaume...,"_

_As the voices died away, Herman climbed the wall of the island and poked his eyestalks out to see two men walking away. One was of average height and of a slim body, wearing a suit and walking with a cane, why the other one was a bit overweight and wearing overalls and what appeared to be fishing boots._

_While he watched them leave, an interesting aroma filled his senses. The presence of a delicious scent coming from nowhere made Herman remember back to Bellemere's last day at Cocoyashi village. While it did hurt to remember it again out of the blue, Herman had to find out the source of the scent._

_Climbing onto the land, Herman followed the scent, as well as a well-used dirt road to a village near the heart of the island. As he walked, the citizens of the village stared and whispered things about him under their breaths, but at the time, Herman couldn't care, he had to find out what smelled so good._

_The trail led him to what looked like a fish bait shack, but the sign above told him different._

**LeBeau Bayou Cuisine**

_"That's something I've never heard of before...,"_

_"Well, lookee here. We got ourself a big ol' crawdad, walkin' and talkin' on land!"_

_Herman looked down from the sign to see a tall young man with fiery red hair wearing torn pants, a long leather coat, and fingerless gloves. He was sitting at a table, a deck of cards next to him while he looked up at the merman._

_Said merman bowed, "Hello, I hope I didn't startle you,"_

_The boy grinned, "You? C'mon, big boy, I've seen a lot of Sea Kings screwin' each other over and fighting for as long as I can remember. Compared to the horrors I've seen from them, you ain't nothin' scary," he rose to his feet and held out his hand, "Remy LeBeau,"_

_"Call me Herman," the lobster-man said as he shook hands with the surprisingly calm human, "LeBeau?" he pointed to the shack, "You own this place?"_

_"Actually, my ma and pa do," Remy wiped his nose, "I just help out with the cookin' and bringin' in the extra Beli's,"_

_"You mean cheating the villagers out of their money with that damn card game of yours, Remy!" an irritated voice from the back made Herman turn to see a young woman, about the age of sixteen walk into view._

_She had long, crimson hair and beautiful green eyes. Herman could tell that she was a cook, or something that related to the place because she wore an apron that had the place's name printed on it. She glared at Remy and picked up a pot from a nearby stove, "Git over here, I need a taste tester before trying to sell it to the customers,"_

_Remy backed away, hands waving, "Oh hell no, cherie, I ain't eatin' none of that damn gumbo of yours again. The last time I had it, I barfed like no other, I shit like a fountain, and I passed out for three days!"_

_The woman glared harder, "You nothin' but a damn liar and a damn thief, Remy! Now, git over here!"_

_"Hell no! I'd rather feed myself to that damn kurowani you got for a pet!"_

_Herman watched the two go at it for a few more minutes before clearing his throat, reminding them he was there, "Excuse me...,"_

_The young woman looked him over, "Damn, a giant crawdad!"_

_Remy laughed, "Naw, cherie, this here is Herman, and I do believe that he's come as a customer," he sat down and shuffled the deck of cards, "Care for a game, mon ami?"_

_"Remy...,"_

_Herman looked at them, "Uhm...well, I was going to say, if he doesn't wish to taste your creation, I'd be glad to offer my tastebuds," he smiled sheepishly, "I'm something of a cook, and I'd love to try new dishes,"_

_Remy whistled, "A cook? Hot damn, girl, looks like we actually got a good cook besides ma and pa,"_

_The woman raised a nearby skillet, "Remy LeBeau, you had better git back in the kitchen, or go feed Bubba, otherwise I'm gonna beat the shit outta you!"_

_"Alright, alright," Remy shook his head in defeat and waved at Herman as he made his way around the shack, "Good luck, bud...by the way, pinch your nose, it'll save you a lot of pain,"_

_"REMY!"_

_Herman watched as the young man practically flew out of sight, leaving him with the young woman._

_"Now," she sighed, grabbed a nearby empty bowl and scooped some interesting food from the pot into the bowl, then held it out, "Bon appetite,"_

_Herman looked at the bowl: it's contents were rice, thick brown sauce, chunks of meat and at least three different vegetables. He sniffed it curiously, "What did you say this was called?"_

_"This here is LeBeau Gumbo," the young woman said proudly, "Finest Gumbo in the East Blue!"_

_"I've never heard of it...," Herman took a spoon and scooped a chunk of the gumbo out of the bowl, "Cheers,"_

_"Bon appetite,"_

_Herman opened his mouth and ate the small spoonful of gumbo...threw up and passed out._

_-----_

_"Damn, cherie, I told ya yer cookin' is horrible!"_

_"Hey Bubba! Remy wants to play with you!"_

_"Get that damn kurowani away from me!"_

_"Shut up, I think he's coming around!"_

_Herman opened his eyes and found himself laying on a soft mattress inside a large room, the faces of the young couple he had met shortly before eating the gumbo. Groaning, he slowly sat up and held his head, "What happened?"_

_Remy jerked a thumb to the woman, "Billie Jean here gave you a bowl of her Deadly LeBeau Gumbo," he cracked before ducking a hard right hook that the woman threw at him, "You've been out for five hours. I'm surprised you haven't shit blood,"_

_Herman couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sorry...," he turned to the woman who gave him the food, "You're name is Billie Jean?"_

_She nodded, "Billie Jean LeBeau, nice to meet you, Herman,"_

_"I told ya," Remy shook his head, "Yer cookin' even took down a livin' crawdad. Told ya it was bad,"_

_Jean sighed and collapsed on a nearby bed, holding her head, "Dammit, what's wrong with me?! I keep makin' everyone sick, but I always follow the recipe right!" she sniffed loudly, "If this keeps up, I'll never be good enough to leave the island!"_

_"Leave the island?" Herman tilted his head, "Forgive me, I know it's not any of my business, but why do you want to leave the island?"_

_"Because it's her dream," Remy answered with a sly grin, "Little Billie Jean here wants to be a cook at the 'great' Baratie,"_

_"Remy...,"_

_"What, it's true though, right sis?" Remy glanced at her, "That's what you want, right?"_

_Jean snorted, untied her apron and threw it into a nearby garbage can, "That's what I want, but it doesn't look like I'll be getting there...,"_

_"Don't say that,"_

_Both Remy and Jean turned to Herman, who was back on his feet, a strange look in his eyes._

_"Why not?" Jean scratched her head, "I can't cook for shit! I thought I had a knack for this, but when I made the gumbo, everyone got sick and despite what they said, I keep trying, but it's worse than the last batch!"_

_"Well, no more!" Herman knocked his fists together, snorting, "As a cook of the sea, I cannot sit by and let a young chef abandon her dreams because of one bad dish! Billie Jean LeBeau...," he gave a thumbs up, "As of today, I am going to teach you how to become a better cook!"_

_Jean and Remy exchanged looks, "Okay...?"_

_"Damn right, now c'mon, let's go! Show me the kitchen!"_

_-----_

_And so, Herman stayed with the LeBeau's for awhile, teaching Jean and her family everything he knew about cooking. Needless to say, they were impressed by his knowledge of recipes and skills with the stove. Herman was even impressed that they accepted him so easy so quickly. It was as if they didn't care about his race...in fact, it was like they didn't even know about merman._

_Sadly, even though he taught Jean everything he knew, he couldn't help but feel frustrated when her dishes kept ending badly. While his newfound pupil slept over cookbooks, Herman racked his brain, trying to figure out why it was always going poor for her._

_"She's got talent, she knows the stove and kitchen well...," the merman muttered as he pet Jean's pet kurowani, Bubba, "So what is wrong? She doesn't screw up the recipes I give her, but even they turn out bad,"_

_As he sat there in the kitchen, a couple of familiar voices reached his ears. One was the voice of Jean and Remy's father, Guillaume. Looking through the doorway, Herman could see the suited man with a cane standing in the living room._

_"Guillaume, why do you allow that freakish fish...thing take up residence in your home?" the suited man asked slowly, "It's bad enough you allow a beast like that crocodile-,"_

_"Bubba is a welcome member of this family, Sebastion," Guillaume interrupted him, "As for Herman, he is a fine man, and has been a great help! With the recipes he's been givin' us, we'll be able to make our eatery great!"_

_Sebastion chuckled and straightened his tie, "That's only if you come to your senses and forbid Billie Jean from cooking anymore. Everyone knows that she's hopeless._

_That wasn't a smart thing to say..._

_Herman burst into the room, looking angry, "Don't you **dare** insult my pupil in this house, sir!" he walked towards Sebastion, making the suited man back into a corner._

_"My, your...," Sebastion looked Herman over, "**...guest** seems to have a short temper, Guillaume. I suggest that you do something or else he'll kill you all in your sleep,"_

_Before anyone could stop him, Herman grabbed Sebastion by the collar and lifted him a good three feet off the ground._

_"Herman!"_

_The merman glared hard at Sebastion, "You are not welcome here...," he opened the door and threw the suited man as far as he could without injuring him too greatly. Growling, he slammed the door and put his head against the door._

_"I can't believe I just did that...,"_

_Guillaume patted Herman's shell, "Don't worry, boy, if you hadn't done that, I would've punched him myself!"_

_Herman looked at him, "You think he was wrong? You think Jean's not hopeless?"_

_The overweight man sighed, "I didn't say that. Billie Jean's my only daughter and when one insults my daughter, they have a tendency to get a black eye," he rubbed his neck, "I love her with all my heart...but it just hurts me when I see her like that,"_

_Herman cocked an eyebrow, "Guillaume, can I ask you something?"_

_"Of course, Herman, feel free,"_

_"You love your daughter, and you said it hurts when she makes bad results...,"_

_"Yes, so?"_

_"When did it start, the bad results?"_

_Guillaume scratched his belly through his overalls, "Uh...a year or so ago. She had made the family gumbo for the first time, and she wasn't exactly perfect...so as a bayou chef, I had to tell her my mind,"_

_Herman nodded, "I see...and from then, it became worse?"_

_"Yeah, it did," Guillaume shook his head, "I don't get it...,"_

_"I do," Herman put an arm around Guillaume's shoulder, "Now, here's what we're gonna do,"_

_-----_

_The next day, Herman waited outside the shack, which had been repaired and repainted to look good as new, with Remy, Guillaume and Bubba while Billie Jean prepared the food in the back._

_As they waited, the villagers who walked by either whispered questions about why they were sitting there, and other snickered about Billy Jean being the next Grim Reaper._

_"Pa, are you sure about this?" Remy shuffled his deck of cards, "What if she...,"_

_"She **won't**," Herman said confidently, "I believe in her,"_

_"But Herman-,"_

_"No '**buts**', Remy," Guillaume murmured, wiping his face with a handkerchief, "I trust Herman and his advice, so if he says Billie Jean won't fail, then she won't,"_

_Remy shrugged, "If you say so, pa,"_

_Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Billie Jean came out from the kitchen, holding a big pot of LeBeau Gumbo, made from the family recipe. As she set out the bowls and spoons, more and more people gathered around, as if they were a crowd watching a circus._

_"She's still cookin' !?"_

_"Dayum, these boys are either very brave, or very stupid. I'm not really surprised at Big Crawdad right there, but Guillaume and Remy, I'm shocked!"_

_Billie Jean turned away and slowly entered the kitchen, leaving the three men with the crowd and pot of gumbo._

_The three men took a deep breath and gathered themselves a bowl of gumbo, the meat and rice covered in thick sauce._

_"Pass the teeth...,"_

_"And through the gums,"_

_"Watch out colon, here it comes,"_

_Everyone in the crowd held their breaths as the trio ate a large helping of gumbo. They all waited for the men to pass out, puke, or just keel over dead. However, none of that happened. Herman grinned widely as Remy and Guillaume stared at the food in surprise before shoveling more and more into their mouths._

_"They're not dead?"_

_"Doesn't look like it...,"_

_"Think it's actually good?"_

_Guillaume laughed loudly as he scooped gumbo into more bowls, "C'mon, everybody! This is great shit right here. Step right up, and witness the amazing debut of Billie Jean LeBeau's Gumbo!"_

_While the crowd ate, Billie Jean poked her head out of the kitchen and stared at them._

_"No way!" she whispered, not seeing Herman standing next to the door, "They're actually eating it?!"_

_Herman patted her on the head, "I told you! I said you'd get better at this if you kept trying," he looked at her, "I think the gumbo's gonna go away soon, and if they're as addicted to that as they are with your family's cooking, I think you better make more food,"_

_Billie Jean looked at him for a short while, her eyes watering before she took him into as big a hug as she could._

_"Thank you, Herman!"_

_"My pleasure, child,"_

_-----_

_A short time later, Herman found himself preparing to leave the island, standing on the cove where he had dragged a Sea King carcass, with the intent to eat it. However, he had completely forgotten about it and now, it was gone. Picked clean by scavengers or washed away by the tide. He didn't care though...it was just a big fish, there were plenty more in the Calm Belt for him to take down._

_"Herman, are you leaving?"_

_The lobster turned to see Remy and Billie Jean walking up to him, the later wearing a new apron. Herman nodded, "Yes. I think I better move on. Your father said that Sebastion isn't the kind of man who gets thrown out and takes it without a fight. I better go before the law comes...,"_

_"But you didn't do anything wrong!"_

_"I know, Jean, I know," Herman waved her off, "But before I go, I'm glad that you were able to become a good chef here. Keep working hard and I'm sure you'll end up at the Baratie!"_

_"You think so?"_

_"I know so," Herman gave them both a hug, "You two take care alright? If Sebastion ever comes making trouble for ya...," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "Just give him Bubba's shit mixed with his food,"_

_Remy roared with laughter while Jean wiped away her tears._

_"Hey, hey," Herman knelt down to her level, "Don't be sad, Jean. You have a great talent and I'm sure that once you get to where you wanna go, you'll be like no other chef!"_

_"Really?"_

_"Really really," Herman chuckled and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "Well, it was fun while it lasted, but it's my time to go,"._

_The lobster merman turned and ran into the ocean. His body welcomed the familiar sensation of ocean water against his skin as he dove under water and swam from side to side, getting the nostalgic feeling back. As he broke surface, he turned and saw the two LeBeau's waving at him, yelling their goodbyes._

_-_End Flashback-

"So, I left," Herman took a drink of beer, "I haven't heard anything about Billie Jean or Remy, but I'm not worried. I'm sure that sooner or later, with the knowledge I and her father passed onto her, she'll be a great cook,"

"What was the reason she kept doing so badly?"

Herman tapped his chin, "Ah, yes...well, you see. When her father critiqued her as a chef, her heart was wounded because she truly thought to be a bad cook. For that, her work suffered and through that, her dishes were horrible. So, I told him that as a father, he has to believe that his daughter is capable of doing superb cooking. He was so desperate for his daughter's happiness, he said he'd put his faith and love into his daughter and her cooking. Since he and Remy did, her confidence soared and she became the best chef on the island, next to her father of course,"

He took a swig of beer, "You see, that's what's important

Niri and Pingu wiped away tears with napkins, shaking their heads.

As Herman looked at them, he suddenly snapped his fingers, "THAT'S IT! I know what's missing!" he shot to his feet and ran to the ship's galley, "I KNOW WHAT THIS BARBECUE NEEDS!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kilnorc: Man, that was so far, the longest chap in the new fic. LOL. Hope you guys like Herman's little filler...it was fun to make. In case you didn't get it, the people and place he was with in his flashback are based off Cajuns and gumbo is a cajun cuisine. Remy Lebeau's name and description comes from the X-Man, Gambit. I just figured he's Cajun and he's cool, so why not have a character based off him? Also, in case you didn't know, kurowani is a black crocodile...which is based off a southern legend a friend of mine told me once, but I forgot...hehehe.

On the next chapter of Grand Prix...

DJ: There must be something I can do that'll make me better capable of protecting the others, but what?

Devon: How about not sucking at being a swordsman?

DJ: Why you...baka demon! I don't need that from you!

Devon: Whatever...

DJ: I need a sign...I need to know what I can do to be a better protector of my nakama! I...oh my god. Is that who I think it is?! What's he, of all people doing here?!

Song of the Blade

DJ: It's really _him_! Maybe he can help me out?


	5. Song of the Blade

**Song of the Blade**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

DJ sat on a rock in the jungle of the island, looking at the sabre he had taken from Drum Island. The blade was beautiful, but he knew it didn't belong to the special swords of the world. He didn't really care though, as he had given it his own name.

_Hogosha_

That name meant something to him...it meant a word that he had a special connection with.

Protector.

As he sat there, looking at the sabre, he remembered the events back with the battle of Mr 4, Miss MerryChristmas, and Lassoo. He was incapable of protecting Dusty and Austin with his skills or his Speed-Speed fruit. Granted, he was in an area that canceled that out in a way, but he thought he still should've been able to do something.

Sighing, he ran a hand along the fine blade, "There must be something I can do that'll make me better capable of protecting the others, but what?"

"How about not sucking at being a swordsman?"

DJ snapped his head to the side to see Devon standing not too far away, grinning smugly as he looked at the musician.

"Why you...," DJ got to his feet, glaring at him, "Baka Demon, I don't need that from _you_!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

DJ smirked, "You say I suck at being a swordsman, while even though you're on the same level as me,"

Devon chuckled, "Yeah, sure, keep tellin' yourself that...last I saw, I actually _survived_ my fights,"

"Oh?" DJ crossed his arms, "Lessee...when we met, neither of us won, and when those ladies came to the ship, _you_ lost a fight to the one with a freaky sword, and from what I could see between you two, you didn't even bother to challenge Zolo!"

Devon glared at him, "I may not have challenged the _santoryu_ swordsman, but I managed to take down one of the best assassins in the world...," he shrugged, "With some help, but still! At least I didn't go down to get saved by Dusty!"

"Are you insulting Dusty-chan?!"

"You gonna do something about it?!"

Growling, DJ swung his sabre hard, but as if without much effort, Devon blocked the blade with his Water Moon. Again, DJ took a swing at him, but once again, Devon blocked and this time, he kicked DJ hard in the chest, sending him to the ground.

DJ glared at him, "Why you...,"

Devon cracked his neck and sheathed the katana, "I had come to spar with you, but I don't think you're up for a serious spar right now...," he turned and started to walk off, "Need me, I'll be back at the ship with the others...,"

"For a guy who claims to be a swordsman, why'd you result to a move like that?!"

"Not all swordplay forbids limb contact, Macleod...," Devon called back, "If you want to be good at swordsmanship, keep your mind open and train yourself...not just what was given to you,"

_What the hell did he mean by that?_ DJ thought angrily as he picked himself up, dusting the dirt away from his pants, "Screw you, Demon! I don't need your advice!"

Snorting, DJ turned and headed to the opposite of the island, "Baka Demon...what's he doing, telling _me_ how to fight? I've seen him fight, he's not so tough...hell, for all I know, he just sat back and let Zolo take down Das Bones by himself!"

As he went into a private rant of his own, DJ didn't even see where he was going until he came to another beach. Coming to his sense, he looked around and sighed, "Well, I got to the other side of the island and I'm still mad...I gotta do something to release this mojo," he shook his head, "Guess I could run around the island a few hundred times, running has always helped me in the past,"

The musician bent from side to side, stretching out his legs before taking off into a run, but as he did so, he had a strange feeling. He wasn't sure what it was, but he had the feeling he wasn't alone on this side of the island. Looking around, he didn't find anything out of the ordinary, but the feeling stayed, so he decided to check until this feeling went away.

_Probably Devon or Austin messin' with me..._ DJ sighed as he put his hands behind his head and started walking down the beach, "I just wish I had a sign...something that could tell me what I can do to be a protector for my nakama...,"

-----

Chizuru lay back on a fold-out chair on the beach where the ship was anchored, reading a recent issue of the newspaper she had gotten earlier that week.

"Find anything good?"

The navigator looked up from the paper to see her Captain leaning against the railing.

"A little...," Chizuru turned a page, "Apparently, the Government doesn't the news of pirates helping Alabasta getting out, so when they mentioned Crocodile's arrest, they gave credit to Captain Smoker and Tashigi...oh, I'm sorry, it's _Commodore_ Smoker now,"

Axe shook his head, "Government...I don't hate all governments, but the World Government is something that shouldn't exist in the first place!"

Chizuru smiled slightly to herself, "Care to share a little hatred of authority, Captain?"

"Not right now...," Axe cracked his neck, "Man, where is DJ, it's getting close to the evening time...?"

"He's out moping,"

Both captain and navigator turned to see Devon come aboard the ship, "Moping?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah...," Devon smirked, "Just let him be for awhile...dont' worry about him, there ain't nothing on this island that anyone of us couldn't handle,"

Chizuru looked back to her paper, _I wouldn't be so sure, Devon..._

-----

DJ stared wide-eyed from his hiding place behind a large boulder, "Oh my god...that _can't_ be who I think it is! What is _he_, of all people, doing _here_, of all places?!" he gulped.

Not too far away, was a very impressive looking man wearing a black cloak and a wide-brimmed hat with a large plume feather in it. DJ looked close and he could tell that the more wore gray pants, boots, a golden cross necklace...but what really got him was a gigantic, black sword on his back. That and those fierce, yellow eyes...the eyes that seemed to go through his soul.

"H-H-Hawkeye...Mihawk...," he gulped again, "Shichibukai and World's Greatest Swordsman...here...," he bent down and leaned against the boulder, "This is too freaky! I remember Zolo telling me what happened to him with Hawkeye in East Blue, and how that large scar on his chest came to existence, but I never thought I'd meet him at all! This is the same man that fought on equal terms with Red-Hair Shanks...unreal,"

"I know you are there, so why don't you come out?"

DJ nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Hawkeye's voice, but he managed to climb out into view (though, he was on the verge of wetting himself).

Hawkeye looked him over, then his eyes locked onto the sabre DJ carried with him, "A swordsman, eh? Have you come to challenge me?"

DJ shook his head quickly, waving his hands in front of him, "N-No! Not at all!"

_Wait a minute... _the musician began to think, _The world's greatest swordsman, and the guy who fought Zolo...maybe...he can help me out in becoming stronger?_

"So, what do you want?"

DJ gulped for the third time and walked a little closer before falling to his knees and bowing his head, "Hawkeye Mihawk, Shichibukai and World's Greatest Swordsman...my name is Duncan Jeffrey Macleod, from Oganku Island of East Blue! I have heard tales of your greatness from a great pirate, and I've come to ask you...," he looked straight into those yellow eyes, "Will you teach me how to become a great swordsman like yourself?"

Hawkeye looked back at the boy, looking him over, "You are a swordsman, but you have not come to take my title. You come to seek tutelage from me instead...,"

DJ nodded, "Please!"

"No,"

"W-W-Why not?!"

Hawkeye looked away, "You're not worth it...,"

"Why?!"

"Because you are a pitiful weakling," Hawkeye looked back at him, "Even if I did teach anyone that came to me for lessons, they would either be dead or wounded so much, they couldn't fight anymore,"

"PLEASE!" DJ bowed his head again, "I don't care! Just tell me what I have to do to become a greater swordsman! I don't care about being the best there is, I just have to be better than I am now in order to protect those I love!"

Hawkeye raised an eyebow and leaned forward, "What did you say your name was?"

"Duncan Jeffrey Macleod...DJ Macleod, and I hail from Ongaku Island in East Blue!" DJ repeated, "Please, Mihawk, sir, teach me anything you can to help me! Captain Shanks and his crew told me that you and he used to spar a lot here in the Grand Line!"

"Shanks?" Hawkeye scratched his chin, "So, that's another child Red-Hair seems to have influenced,"

DJ blinked, "Huh?"

"Nothing," Mihawk fingered the golden cross around his neck, "Why do you want to become a great swordsman?"

"To protect those I love!" DJ immediately replied, "Four years ago, I made a promise on my sister's body...after she was slain by Marines who were after Captain Shanks," his voice began to crack, "I swore that I would become stronger, so that no one close to me would fall again! Please, Hawkeye," he bowed once again, tears falling to the ground, "I'm begging you...teach me whatever you can! I'm willing to go to any length, do anything you want...just help me become stronger!"

Hawkeye could only look at the sobbing swordsman, "...pathetic,"

"Huh?" DJ lifted his head, watery eyes looking at the great warrior.

The Shichibukai slowly rose to his feet, "You say that you want to be a great swordsman, but if you put tears of weakness in front of the goal, you will never get there! How could you possibly expect me to teach you anything with that weakness?!"

DJ wiped his tears, "Does that mean...?"

"Stand up, dry your eyes, and draw your weapon, Macleod," Hawkeye pulled a small dagger that was hidden in his cross necklace, "Show me your strength, your will to become great!"

-----

Dusty groaned and opened up the door to the girl's cabin. She was holding her ears down as she looked around, "What's that noise?!" she shouted, walking towards Axe, Chizuru and Devon.

The three others looked at each other, "What noise?"

"That noise," Dusty whimpered, looking around, "Sounds like...I dunno, it just sounds weird,"

-----

DJ hit the ground hard after Mihawk blocked and countered his attack. The brunette held his head, "Jeez...I'm gonna feel _that_ in the morning,," he muttered as he pushed himself off the ground, "Alright...Plan B," he held his sabre tightly with both hands, "_ROUGH DIVIDE!_"

He swung the blade upwards and as soon as he did, an invisible force ripped along the ground, splitting it apart as it sped towards Mihawk.

With a _hmph_, Hawkeye simply stepped to the side, "Too slow...,"

"Too slow?!" DJ repeated, "Lemme show you my super speed then! _Speed Speed Cutter_!"

The brunette disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Hm, a Devil Fruit user," Hawkeye mused, bringing his dagger up just in time to block the sabre, "That changes nothing!" he growled, pushing against the blade. This sudden move stopped DJ in his speedy technique and sent him flying into a tree.

DJ yelped as he made contact with the bark.

Hawkeye shook his head, "Pathetic, absolutely pathetic! You have no skill whatsoever...,"

"What are you talking about?" DJ murmured, standing up again, "I have to have at least _some _skill or else I wouldn't have gotten this far!"

"You think you have skill with a blade?" Mihawk taunted, "Fool, you have _no_ skill! From what I've seen is that you only have a Devil Fruit and a sword, and you use the Devil Fruit more often then you do your own blade...," he walked over to DJ and looked down at him, "You want to be a great swordsman, but you cannot achieve that if you continue this path! If you want to be strong, strengthen what you need to strengthen and not the ability that was given to you!"

DJ looked at him, _That's what Devon said to me...is that what he meant? _he gripped his blade again, _He was only trying to help me...dammit, why didn't I listen to him?!_

"Your will reminds me of another kid I've run into the past," Mihawk said casually, his eyes never moving from DJ's, "He wishes to be the best in the world, but he lacked the vision and strength of the real world, so I defeated him easily with this little knife of mine,"

"Roronoa Zolo...," DJ muttered, "Fought at Baratie in East Blue,"

Mihawk raised an eyebrow, "Yes..you've heard of that battle?"

"Of course," DJ shifted his weight and grinned, "I traveled with Zolo and his group for a while with my nakama...he told me of your battle and his dream to become the greatest swordsman in the world,"

"Oh, so you've met the ambitious weakling," Mihawk nodded, "A child influenced by Shanks, and a companion of Zolo who wishes to become stronger. I guess this is something that some would call Fate," he held up the knife, "Come at me again, boy! Try and cut me, even a small wound will suffice!"

DJ grit his teeth, "Fine...if this helps me...," he pulled his sword back, "_Speed Speed Revolution!_"

The brunette sped towards Mihawk, but as he approached, he veered off to the side and began to go into a circle. As he ran around and around in circles, the dirt around them began to pick up and with his speed, DJ used the dirt and made a tornado around Mihawk, who was in the eye of the cyclone.

_Maybe he's wrong...maybe I can cut him! He may have blocked my move before, but there's no way he can see me through this!_

"Pitiful!"

DJ suddenly felt a great pain on the left side of his face and he stopped the super speedy move, tripping over himself and practically skipped along the ground before coming to a complete halt, his blade spinning in the air until it came to a stop, plunging into the ground nearby.

"What did I tell you, boy?" Mihawk's voice entered his head, "I told you, you rely too much on your Devil Fruit! You honestly think you could've caught me off guard with that move?"

DJ rolled over, hand covering his left eye, blood oozing down the side of his face. As he lay there in pain from Mihawk's attack, DJ could feel the tip of a sharp blade against his shirt. Somewhat blind by the blood, DJ removed his hand and looked up at Mihawk, who had sheathed his dagger and now held his great black sword, the tip pointing against the boy.

"The lesson is over, boy," the Shihibukai said evenly, looking down at the bleeding musician, "Be glad I wasn't trying very hard, otherwise you surely would've died by this _Kokutou Yoru_, this Black Sword,"

DJ looked at the blade and backed away, "The strongest sword in the world...one of the twelve supreme grade swords...,"

Hawkeye nodded, "You know your blades, Macleod. I don't usually meet someone with the knowledge of the different swords in the world. Perhaps with that knowledge, you will learn to recognize strength when you see it. If you can accomplish that, then I suppose you can become great, but only if you truly have your heart set on it!" he lifted the blade and gently prodded DJ's bleeding wound, "Now, you are too weak to consider yourself a great swordsman...bear this wound as a sign of your weakness! Let it remind you of your current level of strength as a swordsman and use it to drive you towards your goal!"

DJ could only nod in silence as Mihawk withdrew his blade.

-----

"What the hell happened to _you_?!"

"DJ...damn, kid!"

"What happened, get into a fight with a giant mantis or something?"

DJ shook his head as he came back onto the _Tomahawk, _holding his shirt over his bleeding eye. He wasn't blinded by Mihawk's attack, but he knew it was bad enough to bear a scar. He also knew that he could just have Kirsty use her powers to try and heal it, but he wasn't sure if that would work...and he also wasn't sure if he should.

The greatest swordsman in the world gave him a reminder, a scar, that told him he was no where near the level he wanted to be at. He know had a better understanding about Roronoa Zolo, despite them having different ambitions. While it was just a lesson, while it was just a large cut over his left eye, DJ would bear this scar proudly, for he was taught a valuable lesson in the way of the swordsman.

He pulled away his shirt and saw that his wound had stopped bleeding, but it would still need to be stitched and cleaned. As he walked to the infirmary, he couldn't help but smile.

_Thank you, Mihawk...I'll take your words to heart. I'll not just train my powers, I'll train in my swordsmanship. I will learn new moves, I will grow stronger, I will defeat any enemy that threatens my nakama...and through that, I will become the protector I swore to my sister that I would become!_

-----

While DJ returned to his ship, Hawkeye Mihawk was on now on the sea in his coffin-shaped boat, the candles around him lit by an eerie green flame on each wick. As he sailed way from the island, his destination set, he smiled.

_That killed some time...Shanks, you have a strange effect on ambitious children in your travels. His sabre against my blade reminded me of our battles before you lost your arm. While he was weak, that boy has potential...but I wonder if he'll actually succeed? I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for him, as well as Roronoa..._

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Okay, there's DJ's. Now, I KNOW some of you are either a little mad, or wondering what the hell I was thinking with Mihawk being here. Lemme explain, alright?**

**1) I estimated the time between the Jaya arc, and the OP 4 movie, taking a guess where Mihawk was before the meeting with the Shichibukai so that this would work. If I screwed up in even the _tiniest_ way, you all have my sincerest apologies.**

**2) I figured DJ _did_ resort alot to use Devil power, so if he was to learn not to use them as much, why not take it from the best?**

**3) I know this was a bit similar to Zolo's time with Mihawk, what with the dagger, the sword, and the scar, but I made sure it wasn't _too_ smiliar, aka IDENTICAL...lol.**

**Hope it was good ya'll! I'm drawing to a close here on the fillers...so, yay, race is soon!**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Azu: Man...I don't know when the last time this boat had a good overhaul and cleaning, but whoever did it didn't do a good job.**

**Kirsty: Water 7?**

**Azu: Yep...believe me, great place, great people...but damn...the times I'd lose to Kaku and Lucci in a drinking contest. Oh, and Aqua Laguna...**

**Kirsty: Tell me...do you know a guy called Paulie?**

**Drunken Boxer of Galley-La**

**Azu: Goheno...I wonder how you're doing without me screwing your life up.**


	6. Drunken Boxer of GalleyLa

**Drunken Boxer of Galley-La**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece!**

**Brook: Yohohohoho! Brook here, filling in for Kilnorc, who's busy looking at the crews he'll use in the race in the chapters ahead!**

**DJ: Hey, Brook, you ever noticed something about us?**

**Brook: I'm dead and you're not?**

**DJ: Well that. But, you see, we're both musicians...**

**Brook: Mhm...**

**DJ: We use one sword**

**Brook: Mhm...**

**DJ: And given the time, we could both run across water for a time.**

**Brook: Mhm, mhm, mhm...**

**DJ: Weird, huh?**

**Brook: Yeah, talk about a coincidence...where are your nakama, think they'd show me their panties?**

**DJ: YOU PERVERTED CORPSE! I'LL KILL YOU! -fighting cloud is made-**

**Kilnorc: -sips soda- huh...well, okay then...on with the chapter!**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Azu shook his head as he stood below deck of the _Tomahawk_, a box of tools and a pile of wood nearby. He looked at the crude repair job his crewmates had done to stall the leaks in the large holes they sustained while trying to escape from Black Cage Hina in Alabasta. His eyes moved from the patchwork, to the mess of dark spots in the wood in spread out areas.

"Man...I don't know when the last time this boat had a good overhaul and cleaning, but whoever did it last didn't do a good job," he sighed as he gathered the supplies and sat down to the nearest spot to repair it.

He pried apart the wood, tossed the weakened parts into a discarded pile, "Honestly, how this ship got this far like this, I don't know...," he wiped his brow and looked around, "Well, it had to have some maintenance supplies _somewhere_...,"

Azu prowled around the storage area until he came across a half dozen barrels that were sealed tight. He popped open the barrels and dipped his hand inside, and grinned as he felt a thick, gooey substance between his fingers, "Wonderful!"

After lugging a couple of barrels to the beginning area of the ship, Azu pounded new boards into the weakened areas and afterwards, he applied the newly found varnish over the wooden planks. He continued this pattern for what seemed like hours, but when he was done, he dusted his hands and looked proudly at his work.

"New boards, covered in varnish so they don't absorb the water," he nodded, "Haven't lost a bit of touch,"

"So, that's where you've been hiding,"

Azu nearly jumped out of his skin and spun around to see Kirsty standing behind him, her doctor's coat in her arms. The shipwright clutched his heart, "Gimme a damn heart attack, man...what are you doing here?"

Kirsty giggled, "I thought I'd come and watch how a shipwright actually works," she explained, looking at the new work, "My, you did a great job!"

"Hehehe, thanks," Azu took a seat on a nearby crate and grabbed a bottle of liquor from another crate, "I learned from the best," he uncorked the bottle and took a swig, "Ah...that's the stuff. Reminds me of when I lived back in Water 7,"

"Water 7?" Kirsty blinked, raising an eyebrow.

Azu nodded, "Yeah. It's this _really_ great place further down the Grand Line. Believe me, great place with _great _people, Doc. There were these times I'd get into this contests with some of the Galley-La company workers,"

"Galley-La? Who're they?" Kirsty asked as she sat on a crate to the side.

Azu looked at the bottle of liquor in his hands, "This company at Water 7 who do really good shipwright business. Anyone comes in needing a ship repaired or made, and boom," he snapped his fingers, "They go in and do everything they can,"

Kirsty shot to her feet and ran up the stairs, leaving Azu alone below deck.

The drunken boxer watched her go, "What, was it something I said?"

After awhile, Kirsty didn't come back, so Azu decided to drink the rest of the bottle, and as he did, memories of his life came flooding back to him. Funny how some types of alcohol can do that to a person.

-Flashback-

_**Water 7, Three Years Ago**_

_"Yosh!" Azu banged the counter, his face bright red, "Blueno! Blueno, another round!"_

_The bartender, a large, burly man with dark hair, with a matching moustache and beard sighed, "Azu...why don't you cut back?"_

_"Nah, I'm good! C'mon, Blueno, I got money, keep 'em comin'!"_

_"Oi oi oi," a hand came onto Azu's shoulder, "Why aren't you at work, Azu? Iceburg's gonna be mad,"_

_The red-faced man turned to see three people standing behind him._

_One of them was a tall man with curly dark hair. He wore a large hat, white shirt and pants with suspenders, and on one of his shoulders, was a large pigeon wearing a tie._

_The second was a man wearing an orange jacket with blue sleeves and a cap. He had an unusually long, square nose and round eyes._

_The last person was a kid in his early teens. He had short, red hair visible under the bucky hat he wore, and a surprisngly fit body for a punk like him._

_Azu hiccuped, "Lucci, Kaku, Hattori...," he bowed not so gracefully to the kid, "Oh, great Nick-hiko! What does the Prince of Water 7 want with a lowly drunk in a rundown bar like this?"_

_"Hey!" Blueno protested from behind._

_Hattori, Lucci's pigeon flapped his wings, "This is the fifth time you've left work to have a drink, Azu!"_

_Again, Azu hiccuped, "Naw...can't be, birdy birdy,"_

_"Why not?"_

_"Because I could've sworn that it was the seventh time!" Azu's face broke out into a grin, "Lucky number, seven!"_

_The young teen, Nick Olas, frowned, "The point is, you're not supposed to be slacking off!"_

_Azu pulled the kid close and turned him away from the others, "Listen...you help get these guys off my back for now, and as soon as I'm done here, I'll see if I can put in a good word for you with the Square Sisters...I may be part of Galley-La, even in the smallest role, but unlike other people here," he shot a glance at the others, "I'm in good mojo with Franky. So, how about it, Nick-hiko?"_

_Almost immediately, Nick turned and waved the two men off, "I can take it from here, guys, go on back to work and don't worry about him. I'll make sure he gets to where he's going,"_

_Kaku, the long-nosed man and Lucci glanced at each other, shrugged, and left the bar._

_"Yosh!" Azu spun back around on the barstool and patted Nick on the shoulder, "Thanks kid. I'm almost done here, so go and freshen up, Nick-hiko, you look like hell!"_

_Nick looked himself over, "I do?"_

_"Hell yeah!" Azu pushed him off towards the bathroom, "Go do something with yourself and when you come out, I'll take ya right to the babes!"_

_Like a gunshot, Nick rushed off into the vacant bathroom and as the door closed, Blueno looked at him as he washed a mug, "You're not really gonna expose him to that kinda thing, are you? He's too young,"_

_Azu snorted and finished his drink, "Hell no! I said that to get Lucci and Kaku off my back," he slid off his seat and walked towards the door, "Nick'll take care of the bill, Blueno...I'm headin' home!"_

_"See you later, Azu!" Blueno waved after him, "Tell Goheno I said hello!"_

_Azu waved back at him and left the bar. As he walked down the street, he could hear Nick's angry scream echo through the city._

_"Sucka...,"_

_-----_

_"Azu, where you go?"_

_Azu shut the door to the large house he owned with his brother, "Work, Goheno...,"_

_"Azu...,"_

_"Fine...work, **then** the bar," Azu turned and grinned, holding up a large, heavy bag, "Got some cash and some food, big guy! How'd your day go?"_

_Goheno Baba was a half-breed of giant and human with a height of roughly eighteen feet. While giants were normally quite larger, Goheno's giant blood in his veins were diluted by his ancestors. He had a bald, shiny head and a scraggly bunch of hair under his chin that he called a goatee. While he and Azu were very different, the two of them loved each other like brothers._

_Goheno had been teased growing up, and feared when he got older. He had met Azu when he saved the drunken boxer during last year's Aqua Laguna, which was a powerful typhoon that happened every year. Azu had been training at the train station when a wave came and carried him out. Goheno was in that very storm, as well. He was on a ship that had been split apart by the storm, and he was hanging on for dear life. When he saw Azu being overtaken by the waves, he suddenly forgot about his own troubles and dove under the water, snagging the young man, then swimming for the city. Since then, the two of them had been very close._

_Azu whistled, "Suppa time, brudda!" he tossed the large bag and Goheno caught easily._

_"Thank, Azu,"_

_"No prob, dude," Azu climbed hopped onto Goheno's shoulder and began to count the money, "You know, we keep going at this rate, we're gonna be out in the street...,"_

_"Why not Azu ask boss for raise?"_

_Azu snorted, "Yeah, right...I ask the guy who's on my case already, and I sure as hell ain't gonna ask that addicted to gambling loser for cash...,"_

_"But if Azu no get money, we no live in house," Goheno looked at him, worried, "I like house, Azu...only one where I fit,"_

_The drunken boxer patted him on the head of his head and sighed, "I know, I know, Goheno...don't worry, I'll think of something...,"_

-End Flashback-

"Oh yeah, I thought of something alright...," Azu thought aloud, "After I got in trouble with the Marines, I had to leave Water 7, and Goheno came with...but after awhile, I knew it wasn't best for my brother to suffer the fate of a wanted man for being with me," he shook his head, "You were always getting into trouble, Goheno, not unlike myself...I just hope you're life isn't screwed up because me,"

"Uhm...yeah, hi?"

Azu looked up to see Kirsty standing a short ways away, holding something in her hand. He grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, Doc, I have a habit of thinking out loud. Where'd you go?"

Kirsty walked up to him and held out a framed photograph, "Uhm...back at Water 7, did you know a guy called Paulie?"

"Yeah, I did," Azu nodded, scowling, "Damn punk...he can't deal with the beauty of women in short skirts! Anyhoo," he shook his head, "Why'd you ask, you know him or something? He didn't say anything about a girl named Kirsty,"

"No...," Kirsty shook her head a little, "I don't think he would. Uhm," she pointed to the picture, which had two young boys standing together in front of a beautiful city with layers and waterfalls in the background. One boy in particular had blonde hair and a pair of goggles on him.

Azu frowned, "Hell, that's Paulie, alright...and that's Water 7!" he looked up at Kirsty, "Where'd you get this?"

"It was given to my father before he died...,"

"Did your dad know Paulie? Like, was he a mentor or something?"

Kirsty rubbed the back of her head as Azu took another drink of his liquor, "Ya see...my dad told me and Kyra about that place and him before died, he told us something...," she smiled nervously, "Paulie...is my half-brother,"

_PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!_

Kirsty's face was suddenly assaulted by the backwash of Azu's drink as the shipwright spat out every single drop he was taking in.

"SAY WHAT?!"

-----

Axe entered his cabin and locked the door behind him. He had been walking around the ship, taking a breather when he heard Azu think aloud, hearing his voice through a hole in floor. He heard what Azu was wishing for his adoptive brother, and when he listened to his wish, Axe felt a pain in his heart again.

The captain looked up at the bounty posters he had lined up on his wall. He saw Shidyk's, Rayo's, and many others, such as Luffy's. However, off to the side, as if in their own little area, was a set of eight bounty posters. These were the same bounty posters he had found in his camp when he was in Alabasta.

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Kairi Lumina aka "The Blood Countess"  
Reward: 210,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Toby Dicey aka "Moon Beast Toby"  
Reward: 150,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Zere Xader aka "Stitches"  
Reward: 75,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Eliza Bathory aka "The Butcheress"  
Reward: 68,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Theo Gaine  
Reward: 109,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Damien Bran aka "Blood Raven"  
Reward: 66,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Arezen Cobaras  
Reward: 50,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Goheno Baba aka "Goheno the Berserker"  
Reward: 98,000,000 Beli**

Axe stared at the collection of posters, his eyes lingering on Toby's, Kairi's, and Goheno's. After a while, he shook his head and sighed, "I can't do this much longer...I'm gonna have to tell them soon, otherwise, I'll be sending them to the slaughter without being prepared,"

He glanced to the side and looked at his own bounty poster that was posted alongside Rayo, Shidyk and Luffy.

"Man, this is gonna be rough,"

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Okay, that's good. Hopefully, you all liked it. For the longest time, I've been pondering when I should reveal those bounty posters that Axe recieved while in Alabasta. I figured...may be a filler, but what the hell, eh? Hope ya liked it. One more filler chap guys, THEN the race...I promise!**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Axe: Niri, what was it like as a Marine?**

**Niri: Had some trouble here and there with the males, but other than that, not too bad...least, not until that one night.**

**Axe: A woman and something with hairy arms? It _can't_ be them!**

**Niri: Axe...what's wrong? You look pale.**

**The Love of Binding Friendship Reveals All!**

**Axe: Niri...there's something...I have to tell you.**

**P.S. Nick Olas belongs to Shidyk D. Shade (Rayo Verrani) and he's let me use him in this chapter. Got questions, go to him.**

**P.P.S. If you hadn't guessed it, I'm gonna do MAJOR revelations in the final filler! I was gonna hold out for awhile longer, but I cannot...so prepare for it! (Sorry if this kinda ruins the filler stuff...)**


	7. Love of Binding Friendship Reveals All!

**The Love of Binding Friendship Reveals All!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Fly, Pingu, fly!"

Niri caught the penguin after tossing him playfully into the air and threw him up in the air again, a grin on her face. Normally, one would think Pingu wouldn't like that sort of playtime, but the bird seemed to like going up in the air. As he flew into the air, Pingu flipped around and around before landing safely in Niri's open arms.

The former Marine hugged him close, "I love you so much, Pingu-kun!"

"Heh...that brings back memories,"

Niri looked behind her to see Axe stepping out of his cabin, closing the door behind him.

She grinned a little and turned away, scratching Pingu's neck, "You think so?"

"I remember your dad tossing you up in the air like that," Axe took a seat next to her and lay back, looking at the sky, "It's been quite awhile since those days, Niri-chan,"

"Mhm," Niri nodded thoughtfully, "I remember we used to fight alot about all kinds of stuff,"

"Yeah...then we got into fights with the other kids or anyone that messed with us," Axe chuckled, "Man, I remember afterwards, when my folks weren't able to dish out the punishment, the General went upside my head a few good times," he rubbed his head, "Didn't stop me though,"

Niri shook her head, "You still...Axe, he wasn't a General, that was just a nickname the village gave him,"

"Oh...well...," Axe rubbed the back of his head, "Hehehehe...then what rank _was_ he before he...?" he trailed off.

"He was a Captain, remember?" Niri sighed a little, "He didn't have a Devil Fruit, only his pistol, but that was enough for him to gain respect among the Marines," she looked up to the sky as she continued to pet Pingu, "That respect went with me after he passed on and I entered the Academy,"

"Speaking of which," Axe turned to her, "What was it like as a Marine, Niri?"

She shrugged, "I had some trouble here and there with the males, but other than that not too bad," Niri grinned, "I remember...this one time, there was this big ass dork who thought he could shoot better than me,"

Axe let out an obvious fake gasp, "_No!_"

Niri shoved him, "Shaddup...anyhoo...,"

-Flashback-

_Niri glared at the Marine trainee in the room. He was wearing square glasses and had dark blue hair, and he wore the standard recruit uniform of the Marines._

_"How can someone so annoying look like an annoying friend of mine?" she muttered under her breath, looking away, "His fault I'm here anyway,"_

_"What're you talking about, Zolaro?! It's **your** fault I'm here!" the other recruit snapped loudly._

_She glared at him hard, "Bite me, Ashton! It's your fault and you know it, you just wanna blame me!"_

_"You wanna have a go at it?!"_

_"Bring it on! First Blood rules!" Niri unhooked her pistol belt and Sata lay his rifle on the nearest table, both of them raising their fists._

_As the two of them stared each other down, they didn't notice a large form walk into the room, holding a clipboard._

_"Sata, Zolaro...,"_

_Quickly, both recruits spun around, faced the figure and saluted. Niri looked the man who had just walked in...or, at least she **thought** it was a man. He was dressed in higher ranking Marine uniform, but he wasn't human. A merman, for sure, she could tell with the color of his skin, his abnormally sharp teeth and webbed fingers, but what type he was, she couldn't be sure._

_"...I am your trainer, Commander Siamon," the merman looked up from his clipboard, "You two have been put under my care,"_

_"Great, a merman trainer," Sata muttered under his breath as he adjusted his glasses._

_Niri shook her head, but shrank back when she saw the merman grab her fellow recruit by his throat and lifted him clean off the floor._

_"Boy, you will show me respect, do you hear me? Here, I **do** have the right to kill you!"_

_While Ahston gagged and nodded, Niri held back a giggle. She thought it was quiet enough, but when Siamon turned his head to her, she knew it wasn't enough._

_"Niri Zolaro," he looked her over, "Let me warn you right now. I do not care if you are the daughter of the Captain Zolaro, or that you are a woman, I will not go easy on you! You're a soldier now, and a tool of the Marines!"_

_Niri, who had a shocked look on her face, regained her composure, nodded and gave a salute, "I don't expected to be given any special treatment, sir! I am here to make my father proud and deliver justice to the world, sir!"_

_Siamon smirked and leafed through the papers on his clipboard, "It says here...that the reason you two are here now is that you two had a sharpshooting contest...," he murmured thoughtfully._

_"I...," Ashton coughed, rubbing his throat, "...don't see a problem with that, sir,"_

_Niri nodded, actually agreeing with him._

_Siamon looked up and sighed, "...in the cafeteria!"_

_Ashton frowned and Niri made a silly grin, feeling a bit awkward._

_"Now, you two are under **my** command and you **will** behave accordingly!"_

_The two of them nodded, "SIR!"_

_"Good," Siamon looked at them, then at their discarded weapons, "Come with me to the firing range. Since you two seem to love guns so much as to blow the crap out of the cafeteria, let's see how well you can shoot with them,"_

_-----_

_The trio of Marines walked through the compound until they came to a large, vacant area filled with wooden dummies and large paper targets taped to them._

_"Okay, Sata," Siamon took a seat on the ground, actually now just coming down to Niri's eye level, "You're up first. What kind of gun will you be using?"_

_Ahston scoffed and held up the strange rifle he had on him, "My Tommy rifle, sir!" he glanced at Niri and smirked, "It's one of a kind,"_

_Niri shot a deathglare at him._

_Siamon cleared his throat, "How far will your target be, Sata?"_

_"Give me 700 yards, sir!"_

_Niri's jaw dropped, and she turned to her commander, "Sir, that's an impossible range for that gun! That's over 2100 feet!"_

_Siamon nodded slightly, "Indeed, usually, but let's see if young Sata here can back his words,"_

_Niri turned back to see Sata pull out a scope from his pants and screw it onto his rifle. The recruit closed an eye and lined up his vision before letting loose a hail of rounds in less than thirty seconds. She was shocked! That rifle looked like an altered five shot rifle, but it had just fired at least one hundred rounds before reloading!_

_"No friggin' way!"_

_Siamon lifted a pair of binoculars and looked towards the far off target, letting a loud whistle escape his lips, "Holy...the chest is torn up and there are quite a few holes in the head area. Good job, Sata," he lowered the binocs and turned to Niri, "Zolaro, you're up. What will you be using and will you be using the same distance?"_

_Niri held up the scoped pistol, "My father's weapon from his years of service, and I will be going for 700 yards as well,"_

_Ashton snorted loudly, "You think you can go **that** far with a toy gun like that?"_

_"Watch your tongue, boy," Siamon snapped, slapping Sata upside his head, "That's the gun of Captain Zolaro, who in my and many other soldier's opinions, was a great man. That pistol put down many criminals from longer distances than a mere 700 yards!"_

_Niri couldn't help but smile as she lifted the pistol and looked through the scope, lining up the shot. As soon as she got her sights, she fired off six shots, one shortly after the other. When she finished, she brought the pistol back and blew the smoking barrel, "Kanpai...,"_

_Siamon looked through his binocs and let out another whistle, "One round in the head, one in the heart, one in both elbows and knees...," he lowered the tool and patted Niri on the head, "Excellent shooting, recruit!"_

_"What's so great about that?!" Ashton demanded, pointing to his own target, "She only shot six, I shot tons more than that!"_

_The merman turned to him, "She had both a heart and a head shot, which are kill shots, and then she shot the elbows and knees, which are neutralizing shots. All **you** did, was show me a kill shot,"_

_"So?!"_

_"So," Siamon bent down to him, "Not all criminals deserve to be shot to death on sight! If we need to, then yes, we shoot them, but if we have a chance to capture them and send them to the execution platform or prison, then we neutralize them! Understand, recruit?!"_

_Ashton nodded quickly, "Y-Y-Yes sir!"_

_"Good," Siamon beckoned to Niri, "Zolaro, come with me, we have to have a chat. Sata," he glanced at the other recruit, "You have the rest of the day off,"_

_Niri shot a smirk at Ashton as she followed the merman from the firing range. Ashton could only glare back at her, obviously angry that a girl had bested him in a shooting exercise._

-End Flashback-

"Wow," Axe stared at her, "You pretty much just shot his balls off when you beat him, huh?"

Niri laughed, "Yeah, that guy was a major dork. Of course, so were you, growin' up,"

"Hey, this _dork_," Axe jabbed a thumb to himself proudly, "Defended our island when your dad and the Marines weren't around! I whooped their asses!"

"Oh please, without that Devil Fruit you ate, you would've been killed the first time they came around!"

"If you say so...anyhoo," he looked back at her, "What else happened as a Marine?"

"Just some training, some normal duties here and there...," Niri's face became mixed with sadness and anger, "Until that night...I saw Baron shot in the head by a damn woman while this...this...big ass arm with lots of hair or something was wrapped around my throat,"

A sharp intake of breath made Niri turn to Axe, who now looked completely different. Instead of the calm, happy face of her friend, she saw a white face with wide eyes, staring up at the sky.

"Axe, you okay, you look pale?"

"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY, PARTY TIME!!!"

_Thank the Pirate King..._ Axe thought as Herman's and Dusty's shouts from the shore interrupted the conversation, "I'm fine, Niri-chan...I'm just hungry, is all," he rolled over and rose to his feet, his hands gripping the rail tightly, "Let's go party...,"

Niri and Pingu could only watch in silence as their captain trudged down to the beach where everyone was gathering. She sighed and put Pingu on her head as she followed him, "I'll ask him later...I can tell when he's upset about something, but not now...don't wanna ruin the party,"

Speaking of the party, it was fantastic. Herman had made a wonderful buffet, and he topped it off with two dishes. One was a pot of LeBeau Gumbo (he had learned the recipe from years back) and his version of the meal he had seen in Cocoyashi Village before being exiled.

The scent of oranges and grilled fish combined brought delight to his nakama's senses, as did the rest of the dinner he had prepared. Amazingly, Herman had made enough food, and brought enough beer and wine off the ship to sustain the bellies of Axe, Dusty, DJ, Devon, Kirsty (surprisingly), Azu, and Pingu (once again, surprisingly).

"PARTY DOWN!" Azu screamed at the top of his lungs, grabbing a nearby full barrel of beer.

Dusty and DJ shouted in agreement and soon the camp was covered in a feast, wonderful music, and Dusty dancing around and performing some of her illusion tricks. Axe took a look at all of them, feeling happy, but also very bad inside as he ate (but it wasn't because of Herman's cooking).

_A woman and a thing with hairy arms?_ he glanced at Niri, _It couldn't be them...no way!_

As the party began to wind down, Axe walked over to Niri and whispered in her ear, "Niri, can you come with me for a bit?"

Niri finished off her beer and belched, "Sure," she waved at Pingu who was dancing on Dusty's head, "You guys behave, I'll be back in a bit,"

"YOSH!" the rest of the crew yelled as she followed her captain back to the boat.

As they reached the door to his cabin, Niri came to a halt, "What's up?"

"Come on in," Axe opened the door and stepped to the side.

Niri looked into the dark cabin of her friend and leader, "Axe, you know we can't be like that, we're friends, right?"

Axe rolled his eyes, "I'm not making a pass at you, Niri...there's something I _really_ have to talk to you about,"

The former Marine looked at him, surprised. Axe was usually an easy going guy, as far back as she could remember, but when he said that he had to talk to someone in that tone of voice...he really had to say something.

She nodded and entered the cabin, Axe closely behind her. The room was very dark. All she could see was his bed, some paper on the walls, and the moonlight pouring in through the window, giving the cabin an eerie glow.

"Axe, could you turn on a lamp, or something?"

"C'mon, Niri," Axe brushed past her and stood at the opposite end of the cabin, "You're not afraid of the dark, are you?"

"No...,"

"Then we're fine," Axe rubbed his chin, "Niri, that thing you said earlier, about that night Baron was killed...,"

"What about?" Niri raised an eyebrow.

"I know who shot him,"

Niri stared at him and scowled deeply, "That's not funny, Axe,"

"I'm not joking, Niri-chan...far from it," he slowly turned and looked straight at her, a look of remorse on his face, "I know, who it was,"

"You're full of it,"

"No, I'm not," Axe shook his head, "The one that held you by your neck," he made a motion, his hand going around his own throat, "It had hairy arms, right?"

"Yeah...hairy like hell. Must've been like a forest, or something,"

"That..._thing_ that held you...his name is Toby Dicey," Axe rubbed the back of his head, looking very uncomfortable, "That woman that shot Baron...was Kairi Lumina," he looked right at her, "They were once part of my first crew,"

As those words left his lips, the cabin became very quiet. It was so quiet, the only noise that was heard was from the waves outside, as well as the party going on outside. Niri stared with wide eyes at her captain, her best friend since childhood, speechless.

"I'm sorry, Niri," Axe shook his head, "I don't know why they were there to begin with, but-,"

"Baron said they were looking for a man...,"

"What?"

"Baron," Niri gulped, her voice cracking, "He refused to give them information on a man...so they shot him when he tried to save me from being killed,"

Axe sighed, "Shit...shit, shit, shit, shit, _shit_!" he tugged at his hair, gritting his teeth, "I didn't want you to get involved in this...when I saved you from jail, and came back out to sea, I hoped I wouldn't run into either of them again, but it seems that you were involved before this second voyage,"

"Run into them again?" Niri looked at him, "When did you meet them again?"

"Phlan...,"

"WHAT?!"

"Whiskey Peak,"

"Oh my...Axe...!"

"And finally, so far, Alabasta,"

Niri gawked at him, her anger rising inside, "Why the _fuck_ are they after you?! They were your crew!"

"_Were_, Niri, were!" Axe pointed out, "As in no longer! They mutined against me and before I ran into Devon and the others in East Blue, I was on my own, just like I was before I met _them_!"

"So let me get this straight," Niri backed into the desk, glaring daggers at him, "Not _only_ did you know who shot Baron...but you've run into them in the places we were, but you never told us?!"

"I couldn't!

"WHY NOT?!"

"Because we already had troubles and I didn't think they'd come after me!" Axe half-shouted, "Now that Kairi and Toby have their own crew of psychopaths and freaks, it's only a matter of time before they come after all of us!"

"Why the _fuck _would they come after us, if they're after you?!"

"Because you are with me!" Axe snapped, voice rising, "They want me dead, but because you guys are with me, they figure they can take you out, too! These guys...," he shook his head, "From what I know, they are not your normal pirates,"

"Look around, there is no such thing as normal pirates!"

"I KNOW THAT!" Axe shouted, "But these guys aren't even on the same level of weirdness as the ones we've seen! These aren't just cruel, vicious, demented pirates...these are cruel, vicious, demented pirates who cannot be killed!"

Niri shook her head, "Nuh-uh, not this shit, Axe! We both know there is nothing that can't die!"

"Yes, there is!" Axe grabbed a lamp nearby and lit it, giving the room full illumination, then he pointed to the eight posters on the walls, "THESE..._things_...cannot be killed, if they're with Kairi!" he pointed to Gaine's poster, "I went after him in Alabasta, but he was hard to take down, and he left me one hell of a scar!" he pulled open his vest to show the ugly scar on his torso.

Niri stared at it, then went to the posters, "I know one of those guys...,"

Axe frowned, "What?"

The former Marine walked to the poster with the name of Cobaras and tapped it. Axe looked at the poster to see a man with pale skin and very light colored hair, "Where the hell you know him from?"

"Alubarna," Niri whispered, "Chizuru and I ran into some Rebels, and he was a part of the group that came at us,"

"What?!"

She shook her head, "I...I don't understand...Axe, why have you been keeping this a secret?"

"To protect you...all of you,"

"To _protect _us?!" Niri glared at him and turned to the door, "How the hell could you protect us when you couldn't tell us any of this?! This isn't protecting, this is keeping us in the dark!"

"Niri-,"

"No! _No_," Niri held up her hand, "Smoker said that you did some messed up stuff in the Grand Line, earning you a bounty over 100,000,000 Beli, but I don't even wanna know what you did with those freaks under you command,"

"Wait, when did-,"

"At Rainbase...it was after you got eaten by the bananawani," Niri snapped, "I've held my tongue, because you are my friend, Axe, my _friend_...I was gonna let you tell everyone about you being here, but they found out when Smoker told us in the cage. Somehow, I'd expect they already spread the word,"

Axe cursed, "Well, this is just great...I didn't want them to know about any of this, yet,"

"Well, too bad, because-," Niri turned to face him, but stopped and stared at something on the wall.

Axe followed her gaze and cursed again, "Niri,"

Niri snatched a piece of paper from the wall and stormed out of the cabin.

"NIRI!" Axe bolted out of the cabin and followed his sharpshooter down to the beach, "Niri, don't!"

"Don't _what_, Axe?!" Niri screamed back as she held up the piece of paper, "Don't show everyone this?! Why don't you wanna show them this?!"

"Because they're not ready!"

"Ready for what?" Dusty asked, walking up to them, followed by the others,"

"Nothing, fox," Axe held out his hand, "Niri...just give me that, and we'll go inside, and talk this out,"

"_Fuck _you, Captain!" Niri turned and held it out, "Look, everyone! Axe has been lying to all of us! Some of you know, but it's time we all know before we're sent to the slaughter! This...this is the bounty poster of Captain Axe!"

Everyone huddled around the poster and their jaws dropped.

"What the hell?!"

"Oh my god...,"

"That can't be real, for this guy?!"

"With one that big, the World Government has to be on his ass!"

Axe winced and looked away, "They already are...,"

"WHAT?!" everyone stared at him in shock.

Dusty shook her head, "Wait, we've been travelling with someone that's hunted by the WG?!"

Niri nodded, "That's right!" she turned and tossed the poster, letting it fall at Axe's feet, "This asshole has been lying to all of us,"

"For a good reason-,"

"JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND LET ME FINISH, AXE!!" Niri screamed at the top of her lungs.

Herman reached for her, "Niri, calm down,"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, HERMAN!" Niri shrieked, glaring at Axe, "Because of _you_...I spent a long time in jail for a crime I didn't commit, and it's _your _fault!"

Axe stood there on the beach while his crew stood there, looking at him like he had a second head coming out of his neck. With a loud huff, Niri turned tail and stormed off back to the ship, cursing under her breath.

"Niri-,"

"Leave her alone,"

Devon walked up to him, "I don't know...what this is all about...but I don't like being lied to, and I'm sure no one here does, pal. If you'll excuse us," he nodded to the others, "We have to calm down our friend...,"

Axe listened to shocked and angry murmurs of his crew as they walked by him, following Niri and Devon. The only ones that didn't send him a glare or a cursing were Azu and Chizuru who stayed with him. He looked at them and jerked his head to the ship, "Go and help, okay? You both know I mean the best for everyone, and that I had to do what I can to do that...tell them I meant well,"

Azu shrugged, "It won't be easy...,"

"Some of them will forgive you easier than others, Captain," Chizuru patted him on the shoulder, "I promise you that,"

"Will Niri be one of those ones?"

Chizuru could only shrug, "I don't even know that, Captain...,"

As the two of them walked to the ship, Axe fell to his knees and looked at the bounty poster that lay half-buried in the sand. It had his picture right at the top and his bounty underneath. He had gotten his first bounty shortly after getting his first crew, but as he journeyed, it grew and grew...as did the crimes he committed against the world. His picture showed him sitting down, his weapon leaning against his shoulder, his face splattered with blood and his bangs covering everything but one eye. That eye seemed to glare at anyone who would look at it.

_My first poster wasn't this bad...I remember it had a better picture than this. But I guess when you find out what a cruel thing the World Government could be, your actions and photo depict you as some sort of creature from the depths of hell._

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Captain Axe of the Axe-Head Pirates  
Reward: 265,000,000 Beli**

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Wow...ahem...well...I guess that's that folks. The gang will know soon enough, and the bounty of Axe has been revealed. I bet some of you are gonna be stunned by this, and a little confused by what had transpired. If you are, I do apologize. I'm sure you have your questions, and I promise you, that I'll explain them as best I can as I go on.**

**Got no preview this time, folks...later**


	8. The Underground Race of Pirates

**The Underground Race of Pirates**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

It was an abrupt end to a good vacation. He had to go and tell Niri, and then she told everyone else. Soon, his whole secret, the posters, the old crew...all of them exposed! Why did he tell them, why, why, why, why, why?!

Axe sat alone in the galley, looking into the tall mug of frosty beer that he had poured himself, his plate of meat nearby, untouched. As he moped in the galley, outside the many windows of the kitchen, his crewmates looked at him, all of them huddled around each porthole.

"Dude, he's _not_ eating?! Man, this is serious,"

"No, shit, Scarface,"

"Shaddup, baka-Demon!"

The crew gathered outside the galley's door...all of them except for Niri and Pingu. She had locked herself in the girl's quarters and Pingu was being the comfort huggable object.

"So...," Herman folded his arms, "What are we gonna do? I know we're all mad for him lying to us, but if he had a good reason to do so, then we can't stay mad forever. After all, I'm sure we all have skeletons in our closets,"

Chizuru nodded, "That's true...,"

"So, what do we do?" DJ looked at them all, hands behind his head, "What do we do?"

The group stayed outside for what seemed like hours, unsure of what to do while the ship swayed back and forth, anchor thrown overboard.

Devon shook his head, "Dammit...c'mon, follow my lead, guys," he muttered before pushing open the galley door and walking in.

Axe lifted his head as most of his crew entered the galley, but when back to his beer, "You guys are still mad, I can understand...,"

"Shaddup and listen," Devon gripped his jacket, "We know that what you did...was probably for our protection, but we still don't being lied, too. We're not some pawns you can manipulate, we are you crewmates, Axe...and when it comes to something that could break that nakama bond, you have to tell them everything!"

Axe nodded, "I know...,"

"Which is why," Devon looked around, "Those who do not have any major secrets, step to the right,"

They all looked at each other, and a few moments later, Dusty, DJ, and Herman walked to the right of the galley while Chizuru, Azu, Austin, Devon, and Kirsty stayed where they were.

"We are the ones who still have secrets...," Devon paused as Niri entered the galley, holding Pingu close to her, "...first off...," he nodded to Austin and the two of them removed their outer clothing and turned around, exposing their wings.

"HOLY SHIT!" Dusty and DJ gaped.

Axe stared in amazement while the others murmured.

"We are not human...at least, not fully," Devon confessed, "Austin and I have had these wings since birth and Austin has a gift called Mantra. His gift is that he can hear the hearts and minds of anyone around him,"

Chizuru stepped forward as the two brothers joined their nakama, "I...I've known about you, for a long time, Captain Axe. I've known about a lot of you," she looked at the others, "You see, I was born with a gift, much like Austin's Mantra, but quite different. I have a unique power that deals with the mind," she tapped her forehead, "I have three unique abilities really. I can read one's thoughts, for one. For instance, I know what DJ's thinking of right now," she glanced at the musician who turned bright red and looked away.

"Second, I can move things with my mind, but that is something that tires me," she demonstrated by moving Axe's plate towards herself without touching it with her hands or knives, "Finally...," she glanced at a napkin nearby and twitched an eye.

Everyone was startled to see the napkin burst into flames.

"Scientifically speaking," Chizuru rubbed her temples, "I have three gifts that are very rare for one person to have, as it is rare for even one person to have just one. These abilities are known as telepathy, telekinesis, and pyrokinesis,"

Kirsty stared in awe, "I've heard about those in the medical journals, but I always thought they were hoaxes!"

"Well, as you can see," Chizuru took a seat against the wall with the others, "I am living proof of such abilities. I don't use them very much, as they wear me out, but if need be, I will use them,"

Kirsty cleared her throat, "Me next, eh? Well...I have a secret that's been with me since Twin Dragon Island in the East Blue. Apparently," she shook her head, a nervous grin on her face, "I'm part of a weird legacy...that legend of the island? I guess it's true, because I've recieved a scroll regarding it and that's why I've been fighting so much easier. I'm using techniques written on that scroll, techniques that can only be used by a Dragon, as the scroll calls them,"

She walked to the right and Azu sighed, "I guess this is it, huh? Well, I got one...the reason I have a 9,000,000 Beli bounty on my head is because I...did something that the Government doesn't like,"

"What did you do?" Axe asked quietly, "Does this have to do with your saki bottle?"

"Yeah," Azu nodded, "While I actually went aboard a Marine ship and kicked their asses for it, evidence was planted and made it look like I was a criminal, a revolutionary...how it got planted, and who it was planted by, I don't know, but since then, I've been on the run...,"

_Kinda low bounty for someone thought to be a revolutionary..._ Axe looked at him, then everyone else in the crew, "You all have big secrets, but you've shared them with me, the guy who kept a huge secret from you...why?"

"That's what nakama do, Axe," Devon said as he headed for the door, "_Oretachi wa family_...,"

Quietly, most everyone left the galley, leaving Niri and Axe alone. The two childhood friends looked at each for a long time. Niri had a look of great anger in her eyes, while Axe had one of deep sorrow and guilt.

"Niri-,"

"Save it, _Captain_," Niri cut him off, glaring at him, "I'm still pissed at you, and I will be for a long time,"

"I understand that," Axe nodded slowly, "Anyway I can make it up to you?"

"No...," Niri shook her head and made her way to the door, "No way at all can you make it up to me,"

Axe looked down at his beer, listening to the sound of the galley door open. He waited for it to close, but it never came. Looking up, he saw that Niri was standing the doorway, her back to him.

"Tell...no, _promise_ me something, Axe,"

"What?"

"Promise me...," Niri turned her head very slightly, "Promise me, that when we cross paths with those psychopaths, you let me kill the bitch who ruined my life,"

"...you got it...,"

"Promise?"

"I promise...,"

"Good," Niri walked out and slammed the door behind her, leaving Axe alone in the galley of the ship.

The young captain rubbed his temples, "Man...this is messed up shit right here... ," he pushed away the beer and looked up at the ceiling, "Chizuru!"

A few moments later and the red-head poked her head in, "Yes, Captain?"

"Where are right now?"

"We're near an island, Captain. Hannabal,"

Axe turned to her, "Did you say..._Hannabal_?"

-----

Hannabal, whether it was the name of the large city on the island, or it was the name of the island itself, no one, not even Axe was sure of. As they approached the island, Chizuru guided the ship away from port and hid it out of view in a river heading inland.

"Why couldn't we go into port?" Devon asked her.

"Because," Chizuru looked around at the darkening sky, "With the Marines out there, and the Captain with a bounty that large on his head, we have to take precautions, unless you _want_ to get caught?"

Devon shook his head, "No thanks," he muttered, strapping all of his blades on, "Chizuru...?"

"Yes?"

"Couple of questions,"

"Go ahead,"

"You say you can read minds...,"

"Don't worry, Devon. I only skim people's I meet, I never go in full without their permission,"

"But with the captain...,"

"He's a special case...he's a haunted man with an open mind, though he thinks that it's closed,"

"Oh...so that means you never went very deep in mine?"

"..."

"Chizuru?"

"Devon, as your crewmate and friend, I promise you that I never went further than the reason you're out for power...," Chizuru turned away and checked the Log Pose on her wrist, "So, please, do not fret,"

The blonde swordsman raised an eyebrow, "Second question. If you have those cool abilities, why don't you use them? I know they tire you out, but if you practice-,"

"Whether I practice or not, that doesn't matter to me," Chizuru snapped, surprising him, "Unless it is absolutely necessary...if I go too far, I can hurt many people, even those close to me,"

Devon looked at her and turned away, feeling a little more connected to her. Clearing his throat, he looked at the hustle and bustle of the city they were at, "So, what's going on here? Why are we here?"

"Well...," Herman's voice made him turn to face the chef, "...from what I can tell, Captain felt very guilty about ruining the party, so he told Chizuru to guide us here. We were nearby, and he thought that it would be good to make up for it,"

"Fat chance of that," Niri muttered angrily, holstering her pistols and shotgun, "Herman, where's my body armor?"

"Uhm...," the chef scratched his head, "I believe below deck...I had to put it someplace, but I didn't want to go into your room with everything going on,"

"Thank you,"

Devon watched the sharpshooter go below deck and shook his head, "Damn, Axe has really screwed up...,"

-----

"_This _is how you make it up to us?"

"From a beach party gone kaput...,"

"To a bar in an alley...,"

"_Great_ idea, Captain,"

Axe rubbed the back of his head while his crew sat around a large table in the middle of a rowdy bar, "Okay, okay, okay...," he grinned sheepishly, "I know that ya'll are still mad, and that I did ruin the party...but we're still on vacation dammit, and I plan to make it up to you,"

"Great plan so far," Niri looked around, "I can't think of any place I'd rather be besides a dump like this...," she muttered.

The young man sighed, "Look...here's the deal alright?" he leaned forward and motioned everyone to meet him, "Once every few years, on this island, there is a secret race-,"

"A race?" Dusty's ears perked up, "What kinda race?"

"Lemme get there," Axe waved at her, "First of all, this island has an interesting history. Everyone here used to be a pirate, but they fell out of the trade. Now, every few years, there is a race that starts from here, to a randomly selected destination. Pirate crews from all over come to this island to participate for _big_ money...," he looked at them closely, "I offer this as a chance to make up for the party...do you guys wanna enter?"

His crew looked away from him and looked at each other, looking for what they all thought. Axe crossed his fingers, _C'mon...gimme another chance for a break, guys!_

Slowly, they looked back at him and nodded.

"We're in,"

Axe slapped the table, "HOT DAMN!" he got up and walked to the bar counter where a man in an apron started talking to him.

Niri leaned over the table, "I don't know about this guys...what if he screws us over or something? Or what if we run into those freaks that are after him?!"

"Niri...," Azu grabbed a mug of beer, "Trust me, Axe may be secretive at times, but he does it 'cause he cares. Remember when he sided with Baroque Works? He only did that to get in with Croc and try to stop them,"

"Look what happened!"

"I know, but Axe did that 'cause he cared for you guys...I joined you guys, even though I knew what was going on, but I also knew that I was in good hands because Axe would never let anything bad happen to his nakama,"

"Then explain what happened to his old one," Niri challenged.

Azu shrugged, "Afraid I can't, Niri...that's something that'll have to wait until the right time," he looked up to see Axe beckoning them, "C'mon, time to go,"

Reluctantly, Niri followed her nakama through a door behind the bar counter and into a long, pitch dark tunnel. Axe was given a lamp by the barkeep and soon, enough light was given to the crew.

"This is creepy...," Dusty whined, "DJ-kun, keep me safe?"

"Yes! I will, Dusty-chan!" DJ half-shouted, whipping out his sabre, "I won't let anything happen to you or the other ladies!"

Herman shook his head as they walked down the tunnel, careful not to hit his head on the low ceiling, "Captain, what did the man say back there, when he said two 100 beli coins were the password?"

"You'll see in just a few moments, Herman," Axe said as he came to a stop and held up the lantern.

Everyone yelped and cringed at the sight of a pale, wrinkly face that suddenly appeared in the dim light. Axe nodded to the face and held up two coins, "May we?"

The face nodded and moved aside, into the light. Everyone saw that it was a large, plump, man and he was guarding a wooden door that was now available to them. Axe grabbed the doorknob and grinned widely, "Everyone...,"

The crew looked away from the creepy man just in time to see Axe push open the door, letting a bright light flood into the tunnel. Eager to get out of the tunnel, they all piled through the door and entered the lit area and their jaws dropped at what they saw. Past the tunnel, was a gigantic room filled with hundreds of people. The room looked like it was made of a hundred or so terraces, each level decorated with different pirate flags, the Jolly Rogers hanging proudly for all to see. A series of giant, heavy chains moved from the bottom of the room to the top of the room where a large, wooden ship was hanging by a set of ropes.

"This is where a race made for pirates, by pirates takes place, everyone. This...is the Dead End Race!"

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Okay...I got some stuff to say. First off, I wasn't sure how to make it so they could try to forgive Axe, so I had them reveal their own secrets (betcha ya'll were surprised by Chizuru's lol, which by the way, I figure it's possible because if Mantra can detect people from a distance, then psychic abilities have to be possible, right? Don't worry, I'll go more into her things later on in the series)**

**Secondly, I wasn't sure how much stuff to put in for the entry of the tunnel for the race, so I did what I thought was good. This is kinda a blah chapter all in all, and I'm sorry, but the next few chapters will make up for it, cuz they meet people, enter the race, and some cool stuff happens! YAY!**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Axe: Yosh, I got us entered in the race.**

**Chizuru: Partia Island, huh? That's the destination? What's the prize money?**

**Axe: Uh...300,000,000 Beli?!**

**Herman: Oh my...I can't believe Willy's here! I haven't seen him since sailing with Arlong!**

**Dusty: GIANTS ARE HERE TOO! Wait, there sure are a lot of weird crews here...and I think I recognize some of these people!**

**Old Faces and New Enemies**

**Axe: Big bounty people here for the race, so it will be...WHAT THE HELL!? Aniki is here too?!**


	9. Old Faces, New Enemies

**Old Faces and New Enemies**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

After exploring the terraces and leaving his crew to explore on their own and settle down, Axe found himself at the bookkeeper's stand on the top floor. The bookkeeper himself was a large, fat man with a beautiful young blonde on his knee.

"So, back again, eh boy?" the bookkeeper chuckled as Axe wrote down his team's name, "Think you can actually finish this time?"

"Hey, Fatman, just because the last time I got sidetracked by a couple of Marine ships don't mean that I can't finish a race," Axe placed the two Beli coins, which were the entry fee, onto the desk and winked at the blonde, "Hey babe...I win you if I win?"

The bookkeeper laughed, "You wish, punk! The favorite to win this year is General Gasparde,"

Axe raised an eyebrow, "General Gasparde?"

The fat man nodded, "Yeah, anyway," he reached for something behind the desk and pulled out an Eternal Pose, tossing it to Axe, "This is your destination this year. Good luck,"

Axe caught the pose and turned to walk back to his crew when he stopped, seeing Chizuru right behind him. Sighing he shook his head, "Stop...doing...that,"

Chizuru chuckled, "Sorry, Captain. What were you doing just now?"

"I just signed us up for the race," Axe handed her the Eternal Pose, "This is where the Finish Line is,"

Chizuru took the Pose and looked at it closely, "Partia Island, eh? The prize money for this race, what is it?"

"Uh...," Axe turned and looked at the papers on the desk, "300,000,000 Beli," he reported, turning back to her. Seconds later, he whipped back around and his jaw dropped, "300,000,000 BELI?! HOLY SHIT!"

Chizuru could only giggle at her captain's reaction to the prize money, "My, this will be interesting, won't it?"

-----

Dusty and Herman walked alongside each other, looking at everyone in the giant room. The kitsune had her hands behind her head while Herman kept twisting his stalks around.

"A lot people here," the merman thought aloud, "Are they _all_ here to try and win the race?"

"Hell no!"

Both Axe-Heads stopp and turned to a group of people having a drink nearby. The one who had yelled the reply was a thin man wearing a bandanna and slacks.

He grinned at them, "Not everyone here is trying to win, you two," he wagged a finger, "Not when the favorites are so tough. Besides, those who _are_ entering are gonna die once it starts," he scratched his chin, "Take a look around and you'll see the favorites. Bottom floor: Bobby and Pogo. On the terrace below us, Willy the Grampus Merman, and high above is, the major favorite, General Gasparde,"

Herman leaned forward, his eyestalks wide, "WILLY?"

The man nodded, "Oh yeah. An old rival of Arlong, Willy...what's wrong with you?"

The merman turned heel and looked somewhat excited, "Dusty, I have not seen that old sonofabitch in years! At least not since I sailed with Arlong! I can't believe he's still kickin'!"

Dusty couldn't answer because she was leaning over the railing, looking down at the others, "Holy crap! Bobby and Pogo are giants, just like Dorry and Broggy!"

"Dusty, you be careful. I'm gonna go find Willy and see what's he doing,"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dusty waved him off, not really listening, "You go do that...,"

Herman shook his head and took off for the stairs, "Talk about a small world...,"

While the lobsterman took off to find the other merman, Dusty kept scanning the crowds.

"There sure are alot of weird looking people here...," she murmured as she looked around, "I think I recognize some of these people!"

She pulled herself back up to the terrace and clapped her hands excitedly, "This is gonna be fun!"

-----

"Don't you think you should cut back?"

"So says the alcoholic," Niri muttered as she grabbed her third mug of beer since they arrived, "I'm immune to gettin' drunk, Azu...don't know why, and I really don't care," she then gulped the beer down within seconds.

Azu sighed as he grabbed his own mug, "You can't be mad forever,"

"Probably not, but just let me be for as long as I can...,"

"Niri...,"

"Why the hell aren't you mad anyway?" Niri demanded, looking at him, "You saw those posters he had in his cabin, you know that Goheno is with them! Aren't you mad that he didn't tell you?!"

Azu shrugged, "I was, at first, but I realize that Axe didn't want me to fly off the handle and go after him...but knowing gives me a new purpose for being with you guys, besides being a shipwright. I have to find him and I have to get him back on the right path," he took a sip of his beer, "I don't care if I have to beat the shit out of him to do it,"

Niri looked at her empty mug while Pingu sat on the chair next to her, munching on a plate of food she had gotten for him. As she stared into the glass, she could see some rough looking guys walk up behind her.

"Hey, babe, how's about you dump this loser here and have a fun time with all of us?"

Niri's eye twitched as a hand fell onto her shoulder, "Get lost, assholes,"

"Ooh, she's feisty," the hand began to tighten it's grip, "C'mon...,"

Azu rose from his seat, "She said back off, man...just walk off before you get into some stuff that you'll regret,"

"Why don't you just back off and leave some _real_ men take care of this woman,"

The Drunken Boxer cracked his neck, "Pal...that's a friend of mine you're talkin' about...and if she says get lost...then get lost,"

"You wanna fight, shithead?!"

Azu dropped into a stance, "Bring it!"

While both sides got ready to fight, Niri noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and the next thing she knew, the group of men went screaming over the side of the terrace. She chuckled and took another helping of beer, "Thanks, Azu,"

"Uhm...," Azu pointed behind her, towards a fuming Pingu who was on the terrace, flapping his wings and honking angrily at the people below, "That was all him,"

Niri grabbed Pingu and held him close to her, "Thank you, Pingu. You just earned yourself extra fish!"

"Niri Zolaro...my, what are the odds?"

Niri froze, "I know that voice...," she turned and saw a large merman standing a short way's away, looking at her warmly, also amused at the penguin's action.

"Captain Siamon!?"

The merman chuckled and walked over to the startled former Marine, patting her on the head, "I heard that you escaped prison, but I never thought I'd run into you here...small world, eh?"

Niri practically trembled under the merman's touch, "Uh...w-w-well...you see...I...I uh...,"

"Don't worry," Siamon stopped patting and shook her a tiny bit, "Don't worry, Zolaro, I'm not here to arrest you...in fact, I'm not even here as a Marine. I'm an outlaw, just like you,"

"What?!"

Siamon nodded, "It's a long story...,"

-----

"What did you say, asshole punk?!"

"You heard me, you dork!"

Devon glared daggers at the young man in front of him, who was glaring back at him, holding a large, double-handed sword. The young man had tan skin, violet tattoos on his arms, orangish hair, and goldish eyes that seemed to poke through out of a red dragonic mask he wore over his face. Devon gripped his gladius swords, and grit his teeth.

Kirsty shook her head as she held a hand over her eyes, "Aiya...,"

"Take back what you said about my friend," Devon hissed, "And I may let you leave this place with your dick still attached,"

"Devon, just let it go,"

"No, I won't," Devon glared at the masked man in front of him, "I don't like it when someone says that kind of thing to a woman,"

"All I said is that she had a nice ass and rack, pal," the masked one shook his head, grinning, "That's a compliment!"

Kirsty rubbed the back of her head, "It _is _considered a compliment...in some parts of the world," she murmured, looking away.

"I don't care. The way I was raised...whenever someone said that about my mother or any girl I knew, I clobbered them," he pointed his swords at the other, "Now, apologize,"

"Make me!"

"Oh...that's it!"

"AKA!"

The masked man suddenly lost his footing on his advance towards Devon and nearly fell over as he tripped over himself. He looked over his shoulder and the two Axe-Heads looked up to another man, this one wearing a lavender mask over his face approach them.

"Captain," the red-masked man got his feet, "What's going on?"

The man in lavendar looked at him through his slits in his mask, then at the other two, "I don't know what this is about, but you know I don't like it when you start stuff...it leads to unnecessary confrontations,"

"But I didn't start anythi-,"

"That's enough...," the second man hissed, "Get with the others now!"

Aka, the man in red mumbled and stomped away.

Devon snorted, "Didn't need an interruption, pal," he muttered, sheathing his swords, "I would've whooped his ass from here to Marine HQ!"

The man in lavender tilted his head slightly, then walked away, following the other masked person.

As he left, Kirsty whapped Devon over the head, "BAKA!"

"What the hell?!" Devon glared at her, "What was that for?!"

"I said let it go, but you didn't! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"What's wrong with me, what's wrong with you?!" Devon shouted, his voice rising, "I was just trying to defend your honor!"

"Did I tell you to do that?!"

"NO!"

"THEN WHY'D YOU DO THAT?!"

"BECAUSE THAT'S THE WAY I AM!"

The two of them stared each other down, veins throbbing in their foreheads. As they stared each other down, two people watched them from a shadowed area of the same terrace. One of them was a woman in a skintight red bodysuit, a dark belt holding a curved sword at her hip and a red mask covering her face. The second was a tall man wearing a heavy black trenchcoat, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses. He had a goatee and two large crossbows strapped to his back.

"Oni," the man turned to the masked woman, "What do you think?" he pulled out a couple of papers from his coat and handed it to her, "Take a look,"

The masked woman grabbed the papers and scanned them, "Judge, I love it when you get the new posters ahead of people,"

"What can I say, I'm talented, as are you," the man nodded to the young couple ahead of them, "Think the captain would like them?"

Oni scanned the posters, "A combined bounty of 110,000,000 Beli...not bad. I think I've heard of these two. They were spotted in Alabasta during the time of it's civil war...the boy supposedly had a hand in defeating Das Bones, the assassin...but this girl must've done something big, because she has a bigger bounty than him!"

"Shall we extend an invitation?

"Let's look around some more, then we greet them,"

-----

"You get a look at that list?" Axe murmured as he took a seat at an empty table, Chizuru taking a seat in front of him.

"Yes, I did," she held up a piece of paper, "Copied the names down,"

"So, who we goin' against?"

Chizuru scanned the paper, "Some of these crews I've heard of...there's the Masque Pirates,"

"Who're they?"

"A group of pirates who wear colorful party masks. There are six of them...I think. The captain has a bounty of 195,000,000 Beli...which he earned over 5 years," she glanced up at Axe, "Sound familiar?"

"It's a tad different, so keep going,"

"As you wish," Chizuru looked back at the paper, "The Navigator is worth 200,000,000 Beli, the Cook has a bounty of 40,000,000 Beli, the Sharpshooter has a bounty of 115,000,000 Beli, the Shipwright has a bounty of 100,000,000 Beli, and their Scout has a bounty of 93,000,000 Beli,"

Axe looked up, murmuring quietly, "That's a total bounty of 548,000,000 Beli...not as much as Kairi's crew, but still, pretty high. Who else is here?"

"A group called the Living Tree Pirates,"

"Okay, now that just sounds stupid...what kinda pirate name is _that_?!" Axe laughed, "They got bounties?"

"Naturally," Chizuru nodded and reclined in the chair, not even looking at the paper, "Endo Ordam, also known as 'Death Tree' Endo, has a bounty of 170,000,000 Beli. Siamon Tragto, also known as 'Iron Teeth' Siamon, has a bounty of 150,000,000 Beli. Melcom Athto Conner, also called M.A.C. has a bounty of 130,000,000 Beli. Elsa Nativa, also called Elsa the Grim, has her own bounty of 125,000,000 Beli. Shan Tifihe, also called Doctra Shan, has a 80,000,000 Beli bounty. Finally, the youngest member of the crew, Penny Kia D. Mabui has a bounty 55,000,000 Beli, but no alias,"

Axe stared at her, "How the hell did you do that?"

Chizuru nodded to him, "That group has their posters plastered on the wall behind you,".

Turning around, Axe almost fell out of his seat, wondering why he didn't see those when he sat down. He looked at the posters for a short time, but his eyes lingered on the poster of a young girl, the one called Penny Kia.

"Penny? Is that really you? What the hell are you doing with a bounty on your head, you brat?!"

"Something wrong, Captain?"

Axe rubbed his eyes, "So...many...things...wrong, Chiz...so many things...,"

-Flashback-

**_Baratie, East Blue_**

_"Damn old fart...I offer to help and he's working me like a damn dog...Sanji's the permanent help, why does he get less than me?!" Axe mumbled under his breath as he wiped the empty tables clean with a rag._

_The floating restaurant had closed, and his friends were in their ship, taking in a break while Axe stayed and helped out around the eatery. As he cursed old man Zeff out, he caught sight of something from the corner of his eye. There, standing in the doorway of the Baratie, was a small girl. She looked pretty young and those big eyes of hers were filled of fear._

_Axe put the rag over his shoulder and walked over to her, bending down to her level, "Hey kid, I'm Axe, what's your name?" he asked nicely._

_The girl looked at him fearfully, "Penny," she said in a quiet voice._

_"Well, Penny, I'm sorry but we're closed right now, so why don't you go ahead and wait-," Axe started, reaching over to usher her out the door. But before his hand even touched her shoulder, the girl shrieked and ran by him into the eatery._

_"Dammit!" Axe rose his feet, scanning for the tiny intruder, "Sanji, Help me!"_

_The tall blonde sea-chef walked out of the kitchen, drying his hands off with a towel, "Forget it, Axe, if you try and get out training today-,"_

_"Shut the hell up and help me catch that girl!"_

_Immediately, Sanji's face changed from his normal look, to a love-stricken look, "A lady?! Where?" he asked, looking around._

_Axe growled, "A girl, Sanji, not a lady, a little girl!" he caught sight of the big eyes and pointed to them, "She's right there!"_

_Following his finger, Sanji saw the small child, "Where she come from?"_

_"I don't know exactly, but my first guess would be from two people who had sex!" Axe hissed, "I dunno, man, I was cleaning tables and she was standing right the doorway!"_

_Sanji walked over to the child and looked kindly at her, "Hey there, I'm Sanji. Would you like something to eat?"_

_After what looked like moments of thinking, the girl picked up a nearby plate and smacked Sanji right in the face, and took off running into the kitchen._

_"AHHH! PERVERT!"_

_Axe fell to the floor, snickering loudly while Sanji glared at him, rubbing his face._

_"What's so damn funny?!"_

_"Even small children can tell you're a pervert!"_

_"Shut up, get off your ass, and help me get before the old shit finds her!"_

_Stifling the remaining laughs, Axe got to his feet and followed Sanji into the kitchen. As soon as they passed through the doors, they caught sight of the small girl looking up at the intimidating figure of Chef Zeff.. Clearing his throat, Axe walked over to the duo, "Sorry, boss, we'll get her out of here for ya,"_

_Before he even had a chance to take hold of the girl's shoulders, Axe, as well as Sanji went flying through the air and straight into the nearest wall. Sanji was used to this, so it was easier for him to get out than Axe._

_"What the hell was that for, old man?!"_

_Axe pulled his head out just in time to see the girl run up and kick Sanji in the shin before hiding behind Zeff again._

_The old chef crossed his arms, glaring at the two young men, "This is my grand-niece Penny...she'll be staying here for awhile,"_

-End Flashback-

"Red Leg Zeff had a grand-niece?" Chizuru asked, sounding impressed and surprised.

"Aw, hell I don't know...," Axe rubbed the back of his neck, "I doubt the great Red Leg himself had relatives then, but I can't imagine a small girl lying about it...it's all very confusing,"

"Hm...," Chizuru stood up and walked to the terrace railing, "Truth can be a tricky thing," she looked down to the side and snapped her fingers, "Captain, isn't that man a friend of yours?"

"Hm?" Axe ran to the railing and looked down a couple of levels to see a familiar young man in a black jacket, his black hair tied behind his head, "HOLY SHIT! ANIKI IS HERE TOO!?" he started to wave his arms frantically, "RAYO! YO RAYO!"

The young man turned around and looked out at the crowd, obviously having heard his name being called out.

"UP HERE!" Axe shouted as his eyes suddenly caught something, "Up...here...,"

"Axe, what's wrong?"

The answer came seconds later as a retching sound so loud, it echoed around the terraces in the area. Axe couldn't help but bite his tongue and hold his laughter as the familiar sight of vomit hit Rayo smack in the middle of his head. The transporter cringed slightly, but stayed there in that one spot as the rest of the disgusting stream of human waste covered his head.

Chizuru held back a giggle while Axe fell to the floor, holding his sides as his face turned red.

"I wonder who did that?" Chizuru wondered, looking where the vomit had originated.

At that moment, on the level above Rayo, Azu spat the rest of his upchuck and sat down next to Niri, who looked disgusted at her drinking partner.

"You okay?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah...fine,"

"I hope you didn't get anyone," Niri pushed away her food and took her mug, "Last thing we need is a stranger comin' up here to kill you,"

Azu waved her off, "Nah...I'm pretty sure I missed hitting anyone. Think I hit a coat rack though, I saw a black jacket on it,"

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: ROFL ROFL ROFL. That last part just came to me...and I think a certain author is gonna kill me for making that happen. If not, he'll get his revenge somehow...and I'll accept it, 'cuz I know I deserve it...I really do, LOL.**

**Okay, before the preview, lemme say this...the Masque Pirates belong to Crazy-Fishie, and the Living Tree Pirates belong to The Dude of Doom, friends of mine who let me borrow their crews for this fic.**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Axe: That has got to be...the funniest thing I've seen in a _long_ time, Rayo!**

**Rayo: Don't make me kick your ass, kid!**

**Dusty: Oh my god! DJ-kun, look! It's Luffy! It's the Straw Hats, they're here too!**

**DJ: Awesome! I gotta tell Zolo about Mihawk. Let's go get the others!**

**Niri: So, Ashton took over, now he's missing...meh, that ass probably deserved it.**

**Threats and Invites**

**Devon: A girl with wings?!**


	10. Threats and Invites

**Threats and Invites**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Dammit, Azu, you just _had_ to go and throw up on that guy, didn't you?!"

Niri shook her head as Pingu tried to pry the jug off of Azu's head...a jug that Rayo had slammed onto his head after he found out that Azu was the one that threw up on him.

"Who was that guy?" Azu's muffled voice asked from within the pottery, "And how did he know Axe?"

Again, Niri shook her head, "I don't know...but I swear, I think I've met him before...but I'm not sure,"

Siamon took a swig of his beer, watching the two go at it, "That man...Rayo the Beast, a man worth 244,000,000 Beli. He knows your captain," he shook his head, "Your captain must be something else,"

"Oooh, you can say that," Niri muttered, eye twitching, "You can definitely say that,"

-----

"That has got to be the funniest damn thing I've seen in a long time, Rayo!"

"Don't make me kick your ass, kid!!"

"Aw, shaddup for now and hold your breath," Axe muttered as he pushed Rayo's head into the large pool of water that was at the bottom floor. He waited for a few moments before pulling Rayo's head back up, the transporter gasping for oxygen.

"What are you doing, trying to kill me?!"

Axe dunked his friend into the water again, "No, trying to help you clean up...if I wanted to kill you, I'd toss you in right now, but I'm not like that and you know that,"

For a short time, this process was repeated, the dunking, the writhing, and the retrieving of Rayo's head until all traces of vomit was no longer on him. His jacket was now soaked, but clean, after being washed in the same pool. Luckily for Rayo, most of the vomit was on his head, and the rest of it was on his jacket. Now clean and carrying his soaked jacket in his arms, Rayo shook his wet hair like an animal, splattering nearby people.

Axe patted him on his white shirt, "There ya go, Rayo, all nice and clean now...," he eyed the small chunks in the water, "I sure hope that's not drinking water...,"

Rayo tied his hair back into a ponytail, lightly glaring at Axe, "Thanks, I guess. What the hell are you doing here, kid?"

"I'm entering the race with my crew," Axe jerked a thumb to Chizuru, who was getting some food for them, "That's my navigator. You should remember the rest of the crew when ya met them back in East Blue,"

"That's if you can find them," Rayo tilted his head to the side, letting water drain out of his ear, "Then again, a lot of shit's been going on since we met last, Axe...what about you, anything happen?"

Axe grinned widely, "MAJOR stuff, Rayo, stuff you wouldn't even believe man!"

"Try me,"

"First, got into a mess with a takeover attempt with Crocodile and the Royal Family of Alabasta," Axe raised a finger, "Got cut deep," he raised another finger and pulled open his vest to reveal the scar from Gaine, "And I...," he cleared his throat and looked away, "...pissed off my crew by keeping the old crew a secret, but they found that out, as well as my bounty,"

_WHAP_

The next thing he knew, Axe lay on the floor, a large lump on his skull. Rayo's eye twitched as he lowered his fist, "There are so many things wrong with what you just said, I can't believe it...,"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Axe shouted, holding the lump, "You ask me what happened since we last met, and when I do, you clobber me!"

Rayo glared at him and pointed a finger at him, "When we parted ways years back, after I trained you to survive in the world, I thought you would use your head! After a while, I thought that was true because I didn't read or hear anything about a guy with an axe for a time, so I thought you were smart enough, but it looks like that wasn't true!"

"Rayo...,"

"No, you listen to me," Rayo leaned forward, "If there's one thing I know, Axe, is that when you get some nakama who _trust_ you, no matter what you do, or what you are to them as a nakama, you don't piss them off by keeping major secrets!"

Axe sighed, "I thought it was best to do at the time...now, a lot of them are pissed at me, including an old friend of mine," he shook his head, "I really screwed up,"

"No shit,"

_WHAP WHAP WHAP_

"DAMMIT!" Axe moaned as more lumps appeared on the first one, "Cut it out, Rayo!"

Rayo sighed and propped his head on a hand and closed his eyes, "I come here looking for info on the Tome of Verrani and Black Crow, but all I find is a rock-headed baka who doesn't listen to a damn piece of advice I give him,"

"Hey, it's because of your advice that I'm still alive, Rayo," Axe said defensively, "Sure, I made some mistakes, but who doesn't? I-," he stopped and poked his mentor's forehead, "Wait, why are _you_...looking for a man worth at least 800,000,000 Beli?"

Rayo cracked an eye at looked at him, seemingly not affected by the poking, "Shidyk lost in Alabasta,"

Axe stopped his poking, "Wait, he did? He lost?! Wait," he frowned, "How the hell do you know?"

"Because, Shidyk is a good friend of mine," Rayo explained casually, "We've known each other for awhile. Met him up in Alabasta...," he turned his head towards his former student, "He also told me about what happened on Drum Island,"

Axe snorted and crossed his arms, "Guy got lucky,"

Rayo scoffed, "From what I heard, _you_ got lucky, Axe! You're lucky Shidyk spared your life...also, that you managed to blind and punch him through a treeline," he frowned slightly, "Very few people can do that...how the hell did you pull it off?"

"As you said," Axe shrugged, "I got lucky. So, since you're here, how's about I offer a little bit on the side cash?"

Rayo cocked an eyebrow, "That depends...," he said slowly.

Axe grinned, "If people don't enter the race, they can bet on the racers. If your bet wins, you get 350 times the amount you bet!" he rubbed his hands together, "I know you're not one for LOTS of money, but if you get a lot here, you can keep going in your journey, just looking around and be lazy for awhile...,"

"Hmm...you know, this reminds me of that time you tried getting that one lady to hook up with me...,"

"Hey, I was trying to be nice!"

"...it was a guy in drag!"

"..."

"..."

"I was trying to be nice!"

Rayo opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and looked to the side casually, "Axe, six o'clock,"

Axe rolled his eyes. This was a little thing that he knew about from Rayo. If any of them spotted people that may look like they'd cause trouble, one would warn the other and what would happen from there, would happen.

"How many...?"

"About...," Rayo glanced behind his friend, then back at the side, "...a couple dozen,"

"Oh, that much?" Axe grinned, "They look mean?"

"By my standards, no, but that's just me,"

Axe nodded and turned around to see a large group of armed men standing a few feet away. Leaning to the side, he could see Chizuru in the thick of them, looking more annoyed than scared.

"Are you the one they call Axe?" the apparent leader growled, brandishing a large, single-headed, axe with a black blade.

The young treasure hunter grinned and hefted his giant stone axe, "Yeah...who wants to know?"

"I guess, you can call us representatives of the great General Gasparde," the man grinned, "He likes strong people, and I'm sure he can use you on his crew for this race...after all, a man with a bounty of 265,000,000 Beli on his head _must_ be good,"

"Yeah, I am good, but I'm gonna have to say no to your offer," he jerked his head to the side, "Chizuru, c'mon, let's go get the others,"

"I'm afraid I'm kind of stuck, Captain," Chizuru looked around, "They won't let me leave,"

"That's right. She's kinda cute," the leader laughed, "I'm sure she'll give us a nice breaktime when we earn it,"

"Captain...,"

"What's going on?"

Axe turned to see that Devon and Kirsty stood beside Rayo, who was staring at them. From the looks of it, Rayo looked surprised to see them there. Though, why he would, Axe wouldn't know, given his senses with the _Neko Neko no Mi: Model Lion_ Rayo ate.

Devon glared at the men who wouldn't let Chizuru leave and his hands came to rest on the Water Moon, "Just give the word,"

Kirsty pulled out her sai, "I can use the exercise," she glanced at Rayo, "Hey, I remember you,"

"Guys, if you wanna have fun," Axe plopped down into his seat, "Go ahead. Save the pleasantries 'til you're done,"

Devon grinned as he unsheathed Water Moon, leaving his other blades in their covers, "Kirsty, how much you want?"

"Oh...I think I'll let you have fun and take only a fourth of them. You take the rest,"

"Thank you,"

"Oh, no problem,"

"KILL THOSE ASSHOLES!"

Rayo glanced at Axe, "Don't wanna insult your crewmates, but can they handle them?"

Axe could only grin while his doctor and first mate ran into the crowd of pirates, "Just watch,"

-----

Dusty whistled a happy tune as she walked around the different terraces. As she had walked, she had caught up with DJ and Austin, who were stuffing their faces with the free food this place had offered. After they stuffed themselves, the boys walked with Dusty, trying to make more room for more.

"I gotta say, I was kinda pissed at the Captain...," Dusty put her hands behind her head, "But for some reason, I feel happy now!"

"Must be this place," DJ muttered, patting his stomach, "That food sure is good though. I gotta try and get Herman to stock up on this place's food,"

Austin belched loudly and nodded.

"Mac? Mac, wake up!"

The trio stopped and looked to the side to see an interesting sight. Sitting in a large hole that was in the wall, was a tall young man, at least seven feet in height. He was completely out cold, as if someone had just clobbered him.

Besides the young man, two people were kneeling, shaking the unconcious male, trying to wake him up. One was a young man who was dressed in brightly colors, and because of that, his clothes looked like they were part of a colorful explosion. The second figure was a beautiful young woman wearing a miniskirt and a matching jean jacket over a white shirt.

Dusty walked over to them, "What happened to him?" she asked, poking the large one's foot.

The girl sighed, "I don't know! We got seperated and when we found him, he's out of it!"

The kitsune girl tapped the floor idly and looked up in thought, "I wonder...," she turned and walked to a nearby table, picked up a large mug of beer, then walked back and poured it out completely, soaking the giant.

However, that did the trick because the large young man came back to conciousness, sputtering and coughing.

"There ya go," Dusty dusted her hands and started walking off again, the boys behind her, "Later!"

Leaving the strange people behind, the Axe-Head trio continued to explore the many terraces of the race's meeting area.

"There are tons of people here...," DJ adjusted the sabre he kept on his back, "I get the feeling sooner or later, we're gonna get roped into a brawl,"

"OH MY GOD!"

"What, what is it?!" DJ gripped the handle and looked around, "Bring it!"

"DJ-kun, it's Luffy!"

"What?!" DJ snapped his head to see Dusty leaning over another railing, looking down at the terrace below them. He sped over and looked down as Austin joined them.

There, standing in front of the terrace's railing below, was Monkey D. Luffy and his crew. However, it looked like there was one extra crewmate. A tall, young woman with black hair, dressed in violet. Somehow, she looked very familiar.

DJ grinned when he saw Roronoa Zolo, "This is awesome! I gotta go tell Zolo about my encounter with Mihawk," he touched the fresh scar over his left eye, "We gotta go get the others!"

"Oh hell ya!" Dusty grabbed Austin and DJ by the collar and sped off, dragging the two boys behind her, "CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPTAIN!!"

-----

"Hm?" Axe looked around, "Anyone hear something?"

"No,"

"No,"

"Nope,"

"Sorry, Captain,"

Axe scratched his head as Devon cleared the table of a motionless attacker, "Must be hearing things then," he sighed and looked at Rayo, "So, since we were interrupted...," he cleared his throat, "Where is Shidyk, anyway? Since he lost to Black Crow, I'd expect him to be either dead or moping. And since you're looking for Crow, he can't be dead so he must be moping,"

Rayo shook his head, "No, he isn't, Axe. While he's recovering from his battle, Shidyk will train to become stronger. Right now, he's helping a girl get back home," he clicked his tongue, "Cute kid, but you can't help but wonder where a girl with wings came from,"

Almost immediately, Devon, Kirsty, and Axe began choking on their food and beer.

Rayo sweatdropped, "Was it something I said?"

Devon was the first to recover, "A girl...with wings?" he asked slowly.

Rayo nodded, "Yeah. Her name is Aisa. Cute little kid, too. What's with you three?"

Instead of answering, Chizuru, Axe, Kirsty, and Devon turned around and huddled, whispering quietly. Rayo sat there, wondering what the hell was going on with these people. Moments later, they all turned back and Devon cleared his throat again.

"Rayo, we're about to show you something...something that we have no clue as to what it is,"

Rayo sweatdropped again, "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" he murmured.

Devon turned around, took off his jacket, and once his nakama kept his back hidden from view of outsiders, he lifted his black shirt to reveal to Rayo that he had his own pair of wings. Rayo's eyes went wide, "Holy...,"

"Aniki," Axe sat back down as Devon covered his back again, "Devon and his little brother, have these-,"

"His brother too?"

"Aniki!" Axe sighed, "Listen. Devon and his brother, have had these wings on their back their entire lives, but they have no idea what they are, or why they have them," he leaned forward, "If Shidyk took this girl, Aisa, to her home, and she has wings, then she has a connection to my nakama. Rayo, please tell us, where is Shidyk headed?"

Rayo waved him off, "Okay, okay, okay...I get it. Look, he said he was headed to an island further down the Grand Line, a place called Jaya. I don't know what he hopes to find there, but if he thinks that place has a clue as to Aisa's homeland, then you might wanna go there,"

Devon nodded and ran a hand through his blonde hair, "Okay...Jaya...Captain-,"

"Say no more, Devon," Axe interrupted him, "As soon as this race is over, we'll head straight for Jaya,"

"Thanks," Devon turned back to Rayo, "I've heard you're an informant, as well as a transporter-for-hire, correct?"

Rayo glanced at Axe, who shrugged, grinning.

"Yeah, I am,"

"How much do you charge for your services?"

"That depends," Rayo took out a pocky stick and began to chew on it, "Why, you got something lined up for me?"

Devon nodded and pulled out his Water Moon, taking the blade out and laying it on the table in front of Rayo.

The transporter whistled, "Nice sword. I don't use blades myself, but this is a beauty. What is this, a supreme grade sword?"

"I don't know, and I don't care right now," Devon said quickly, "There's another sword like this. It's called Onimaru. It's blade is black and red, and it's hilt is golden. To some, it is a legendary blade and cannot exist. But," he tapped his blue blade, "They said the same things about Water Moon, but I found it! I am willing to pay anything you want for any information you can find about the Onimaru,"

Rayo blinked, "Man, you really wanna find this sword, don't you?"

"HELL YEAH!" Devon shouted, making nearby patrons jump out of their skin.

Kirsty cleared her throat, "Sorry, about that, Rayo," she nudged Devon hard in the ribs, "He can get a little hyped on certain topics. By the way, it's nice to see you've healed nicely,"

Rayo looked at her, a little confused, "Huh?"

"Don't tell me...," Axe shook his head, "Rayo, remember that tournament in East Blue?"

"Yeah...,"

Axe pointed to Kirsty, "She's the White Dragon!"

Rayo turned to Kirsty, "Oh that's right...," he rubbed his head, embarassed, "Black Dragon whooped my ass...I can't believe I forgot about that,"

"Eh, don't worry about it," Axe waved him off, "You've been busy takin' jobs and looking for info on your goals, Rayo, I don't blame ya. Hell, with my crew, I don't think all of them remember that as well,"

"CAAAAAAAAAPTAIN!"

They all turned to see Dusty speeding towards them, dragging DJ and Austin behind her as an excited look was painted on her face.

"Great, now what's up with her?"

-----

"So, Ashton took over your rank, you were imprisoned, you broke out, and now he's missing," Niri shook her head as she sipped her beer, "Gotta say, that punk probably deserved whatever he got. That guy was an ass...,"

Siamon sighed quietly, "True, but I don't think he even deserved whatever he got,"

Niri shrugged, "Whatever...so, why are you here?"

"Eh, my crew thought it'd be fun to enter the race," Siamon shrugged, "Though, after hearing the favorites for the race, I'm not so sure it'd be as fun,"

"Why? Who're the favorites?"

"It's not the last two I'm worried about, it's the main favorite this year," Siamon leaned forward, "People may think we're traitors for things, but one of the biggest traitors is here! Captain Gasparde!"

Niri's hand had a spasm so bad, she crushed her mug into pieces, spilling her drink and driving bits of glass into her hands. Cursing, she carefully took each one out and wrapped a white cloth around her hand, "I'll get Kirsty to look at this later. But, anyhoo," she looked up at Siamon, "Gasparde's here?"

Siamon nodded, "From what I hear, he's on the top terrace," he jerked a thumb towards the ceiling, "He's the favorite to win because of _The Salamander_...," he shook his head, "Betrays the Government, turns pirate, and steals a great ship. That bastard deserves to die in Impel Down,"

"Him and so many others," Niri muttered before turning around, "So where is he, the top terrace?"

"Yeah...wait, what are you doing?"

_BOOM_

The jug on Azu's head exploded into pieces and the drunken boxer nearly wet himself as Niri holstered her shotgun.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" he screamed, "YOU COULD'VE TAKEN MY HEAD OFF!"

"I could've, but didn't," Niri snapped, "C'mon guys, we got to pay a visit to someone,"

Pingu honked and waddled after Niri and the merman while Azu made sure he was in one piece.

"Crazy bitch...," he cracked his neck, "I need a beer...that'll calm me down,"

As he picked up a full mug, another gunshot rang through the air and the glass suddenly burst into shards.

"DAMMIT, NIRI!"

"GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE, AZU!"

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Well, that one's down. -cracks neck- about one more chapter before the race starts. Hopefully, this was a good chapter. If not, I do apologize.**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Axe: Luffy's here?! C'mon, let's go!**

**Rayo: NICO ROBIN?! What the hell?!**

**Axe: Oh yeah, about that...hehehe**

**Niri: So, Gasparde...in the flesh. Bigger than I thought he'd be.**

**Kirsty: That guy with tattoos next to him is kinda creepin' me out...**

**Number One Favorite: General Gasparde!**

**Gasparde: ...big mouthed Rookies...**


	11. Number One Favorite: General Gasparde!

**Number One Favorite: General Gasparde!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Captain! Luffy's here!" Dusty waved her arms frantically, her eyes lit up, "Straw Hat Luffy is here!"

"WHAT?!" Axe shot to his feet, "Lead the way, Dusty!"

"YOSH!" Dusty grabbed DJ again by the collar and sped off, making a path in the thick crowd of pirates along the way.

Devon shook his head and picked his little brother up, then put him on his shoulders, "I don't know what's worse, a swordsman who can't even free himself from a kit, or a kit whose hyped on sugar,"

"Somehow, I don't think either of that's the case," Axe rubbed his head, and turned to Rayo, "Wanna come with? You can meet the big East Blue rookie that beat Crocodile,"

Rayo scratched his chin, "That _does _sound like a good opportunity...why not?"

"Yosh," Axe clapped his hands together, "Then let's follow Dusty's trail before it gets cold,"

"Fat chance of that happening, Cap'n," Devon muttered as he and Kirsty took the lead.

Axe grinned as he and Rayo followed behind them.

"I just hope we can get to him soon, because if I know Luffy," Axe sighed, "He's gonna get himself into some trouble sooner or later,"

Rayo slapped him on the back, "Like a certain someone I know,"

As they walked, Rayo paused and looked around. Axe noticed this and looked back at his old friend, "Wassup, aniki?"

The transporter patted him on the shoulder, "Be right back, Axe. I have some business to take care of,"

"What about-?"

"I'll meet up with you in a bit, I just gotta handle this,"

"...if you say so," Axe sighed and followed his crew, "Later, aniki,"

-----

Niri, Siamon, Pingu and Azu stood at end of the top terrace and stared in a mixture of awe, anger, and some fear. In the room in front of them, was a massive amount of broken furniture, as well as a fair amount of unmoving bodies. In the middle of the room, were two tall men. One was a taller man in dark clothing, his pale skin covered with black tattoos, and he wore two oddly shaped objects at his sides, covered in brown cloth. The second man was as tall as the first one, but he was sitting down, meaning that if he were to stand, he'd be much larger.

He wore the uniform of a high-ranking Marine, the white uniform coat with a high collar and decorative buttons on the front, which was unbuttoned, showing off a large, broad, six pack chest. The man had a head of long golden hair, and a face that practically said "Piss off".

"So...," Niri chewed on a fingernail, "This is Gasparde in the flesh. He's a lot bigger than I thought he'd be," she looked to Siamon, "He's about as tall as you, if not bigger,"

Siamon huffed, but didn't say anything.

"Okay, we've seen him, let's get outta here," Azu turned to leave, but as he started to walk away, he was being held back by something, "Niri, lemme go!"

"It ain't me,"

Azu stopped and looked back, then down to see Pingu holding onto his shirt from his place in Niri's arms.

_Damn, that bird is strong..._

"So," Siamon turned to Niri, and saw her fingering her pistols, "You wanna blast him?"

"I want to..._so_ much...,"

"Well, don't," Siamon turned back and nodded to the pale man in dark clothing, "We don't know anything more about these guys, and it's a recruit's mistake to go in without information on someone,"

Niri grit her teeth, "You're right...well, what now?"

"I vote we go and have a drink," Azu suggested.

Siamon, Niri, and Pingu stared at him.

"What?"

-----

"Well, this is just great, you find him, we look for him, but we can't find him again,"

Axe tapped the ground, eyeing Dusty, "Dusty...,"

The kitsune hid behind DJ, "Sorry, Captain, but at least we found the others!"

Axe nodded and looked at Sanji, Nami, and Nico Robin, who sat a short distance away, talking with Devon and Kirsty, "I guess that's true...," he looked at Robin, who was enjoying tea and reading a book, _Strange...Devon and the others don't seem to remember her...at least, not right now. That's understandable._

Robin paused in her read and looked up at him, then smiled.

Axe returned the smile and walked over to her, leaning against the railing, "Long time no see,"

"Indeed," Robin took a sip of tea, "How've you been?"

"Not bad...not bad," Axe shrugged, "The Straw Hats seemed to have welcome you into their happy family,"

Robin nodded in silence.

"It's funny, I didn't think we'd see you guys so soon," Axe scratched his head, "You guys entering the race too?"

"Yes," Robin chuckled, "Miss Navigator and the Captain seemed to enjoy the idea of a race with pirates, so we signed up. The race starts tomorrow...how far do you think you and your crew will get, Axe?"

"I don't know...hopefully, all the way to Partia," Axe rubbed the back of his neck, "Prize of 300,000,000 is _very_ tempting. I figure this is way to make up for keeping my old crew a secret,"

Robin paused in her reading and looked at him, "So, you went through all that trouble and they found out...how'd they take it?"

"Well, considering I've been lying to them since Day One, and couple of my old crew is responsible for the misery of my close friend and sharpshooter, they were pretty pissed off. Some of them might still be inside, but most of them seem friendly to me again,"

"Most?"

"All except my sharpshooter...I don't think she'll be her old self towards me for a while...,"

The two of them became quiet as a ruckus erupted down below.

"This place sure does get lively,"

"Indeed,"

Axe leaned downward to see what was going on, but as he did, a black blur flew in front of him. Stumbling back, Axe fell on his rear and saw that the black blur was Rayo, who landed on the railing, cracking his neck.

"Aniki!"

Rayo jumped down onto the terrace, "Well, that was an enlightening experience...,"

Axe climbed back to his feet while the others stared at the two of them.

"Where'd you go?"

Rayo dusted himself off, "Had a very interesting skirmish...," he looked Axe right in the eye, clicking his tongue, "Try fighting a Wood-Man who uses his surroundings _very_ well,"

"Oooh...sounds fun, where is he?"

Rayo shook his head, "Don't worry about it. He's in the race, so you can have a shot at him later. Speaking of which, you and I gotta talk,"

"About what?"

Rayo opened his mouth to talk, but he turned his head, noticing that the others were staring at them. He looked from Axe's crew, to Nami and Sanji, then finally to Robin.

When he saw her face, his eyes went wide, "What the hell?! Nico Robin?!" he snapped his head to Axe, then back to her, then back to Axe, speechless.

Axe stuck out his tongue and rubbed the back of his head, "Yeaaaaaah...about that,"

Kirsty, DJ, Devon, and Austin looked at Robin.

"She looks familiar...,"

"I know,"

"Where have we seen her before?"

The group of pirates stared at Robin for a short while...then the memories of Alabasta came flooding back to them.

"MISS ALL-SUNDAY?!" they screamed together, "WHAT THE _HELL_?!"

Axe winced and covered his ears, "Here we go...,"

Before anything else could make this into a screamfest, Dusty became quiet and pointed behind them. They all turned to see a large group of pirates clinging to a nearby chain, heading towards the ceiling. Shortly after they appeared, Luffy appeared, just below them.

"Straw Hat!" Axe threw his hands up, "Hot damn!"

"Luffy, what's going on?" Nami asked.

Luffy noticed them as he continued upward, "Nothing, just a fight,"

"Oh, alright," Nami turned away, "Just don't get lost,"

"A fight?" Axe slowly turned his head to his crew, a wide smile on his face.

DJ, Dusty, Austin and Rayo noticed the same looks spreading on Kirsty's and Devon's faces. They all sweatdropped.

_I know what **that** look means..._ they thought together.

Moments later, the three pirates ran to the railing, jumped off and took hold of the chain, following the others.

Robin couldn't but laugh, "They all seem to have some extra energy in them,"

Rayo sighed and held his head, "Axe...baka...," he turned to see Dusty, DJ, and Austin looking at Robin anxiously, "What's with you guys?"

"It's a long story," DJ and Dusty muttered.

Austin nodded in silent agreement.

-----

Unfortunately for the eager trio, there wasn't a fight at the top. In fact, a man in a yellow jacket had sent just about every pirate over the edge, then through a freak moment, they all found themselves on the top terrace of the racing headquarters while the large boat from the ceiling became very unstable.

Kirsty shivered at the thought of falling from such a height, "Man, that's gotta hurt,"

Devon cracked his neck, "I wanted a fight though,"

Axe patted him on the shoulder, "Don't worry, once the race starts, you'll get plenty o'chances," he turned to Luffy, who had just saved one of the enemy pirates, "Yo, long time no see, Luffy!"

"Nah?" Straw Hat turned from the young man in yellow and grinned when he saw Axe, "YOSH! Axe, what are you doing here?!"

"Same as you, entering the race!" Axe laughed, "Man, it's good to see you! I saw your new nakama!"

Luffy nodded, "She's pretty cool when you get to know her!"

"Uhm...yo,"

Straw Hat and Axe turned to the yellow jacketed man, who was pointing behind Luffy, "Straw Hat, before we get to it, I think he still wants a fight,"

Luffy turned to a man with pink hair and a tattoo on one side of his face, "C'mon, man, that's enough,"

The man with pink hair glared at Luffy, "Sonofa-!"

"Obnoxious pests...," a deep, gravelly voice rumbled around them.

Everyone turned to the likely source of the voice, a dark room where two tall men looked on at them from the shadows, one of them gulping down a large order of beer.

Immediately, the man with pink hair began to panic, "G-General Gasparde...! Why are you here...?"

"Gasparde?" Luffy and Axe repeated, looking at the large man, who had just rhrown away his empty mug.

"Is there something wrong with me being here?" the large former marine growled, staring at the smaller man.

"N-No! Not at all!" the pirate shook his head frantically, "I-I heard you were drinking on the ship, so...,"

"Do _I_ have to ask_ your _permission?"

The pirate fell to his knees, "No, no! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything!" he bowed his head repeatedly, "Please, enjoy yourself!"

Gasparde belched lightly, "I have something to ask you...,"

"Yes?" the pirate looked at him, looking very nervous.

"...who the hell are you?"

"Who? You mean me?" the pink-haired man rose to his feet, looking confused, "You must be joking, you know me! I'm...,"

"I don't know you," Gasparde growled, "Someone like you who gets beaten so easily by some no name pirate...wouldn't be in _my _crew,"

"Ah-well, that happened because...," the pirate gulped, "I-I apologize! I'll carry on-,"

A loud crunching sound filled the terrace and the others were surprised to see that large man with a tattooed face was now standing behind the babbling soul, crushing his shoulder with just one hand. With a flick of his arm, the man flung the pirate over the railing and Devon watched the man fall all the way down to the water below.

"That's gotta hurt...,"

"Scum," Gasparde muttered as the tattooed man bowed to him, then he looked at the group, "You all seem to be enjoying yourselves...who are you?"

The man in the yellow jacket grinned, "My name is Shuraiya. A poor, no-name bounty hunter," he introduced himself as he donned a tall, black hat, wiping the brim with a few fingers.

"You're a bounty hunter?" Luffy, Axe, Kirsty, and Devon asked the young man, staring at him.

Shuraiya shrugged and turned to them, "Pretty much," he looked at the now murmuring crowds around them, "Looks like I'm a little famous, too,"

"You two...," Gasparde's voice made Axe and Luffy turn to him, "I've heard alot about you two as well. You two don't look like men with bounties of 30,000,000 Beli and 265,000,000 Beli...you've done well for yourselves,"

Axe grinned and cracked his neck, "I got by,"

"265,000,000 Beli?!" Luffy snapped his head to Axe, eyes wide, "COOL!"

"Interesting," Gasparde grinned wickedly, "How about it? You two wanna work under me? I only like strong guys,"

Shuraiya turned to the two captains, "How about it? You two gonna join?"

"No,"

"Hell no," Axe crossed his arms, "First off, I got my own crew, so you can forget about it,"

Luffy nodded, "Besides, this guy smells like trash,"

What happened next, startled even Axe. He felt something rush by him and when he looked past him, he was surprised to see Luffy at the mercy of a long set of metal claw bracers, which were worn by the tattooed man that took out the pirate shortly before.

_Damn, he's fast! Not Soru, not Speed like DJ, but still fast!_ the young captain straightened himself, _Shit..._

Kirsty stared, "Holy crap!"

Devon went for his swords, but Axe held out his hand, stopping his First Mate.

Gasparde chuckled at them, "I like your dauntless courage...but you should watch your mouths, you might lose your lives," he rose from his seat, "Do what you want, but only because I've spared your lives...come to my ship if you're interested," he turned and started to walk out, "Needles...let him go as an advance celebration of the race,"

Needles, the tattoo man with long claw bracers released Luffy and started back towards Gasparde, keeping an eye on Luffy. As he walked, Axe turned away and sighed, "Wow, at first I thought-,"

"DON'T STEP ON THAT!" Luffy screamed.

Axe turned to see Luffy take his beloved Straw Hat from the floor, after it had almost been stepped on by Needles.

"This is my treasure!"

"_That's_ your treasure?" Shuraiya asked in disbelief, gazing at Luffy as the young captain dusted the hat off.

"Yeah, a really important one that Shanks gave me when I was younger,"

"Shanks?!" Shuraiya's eyes widened, "That great pirate?!"

"Yeah,"

"You're not an ordinary pirate, are you?"

Luffy looked at him as he snugly pulled his hat down on his head, "No, I'm a pretty ordinary pirate. I'm looking for the legendary treasure, One Piece," he looked up at the ceiling, "Ah, but once I become Pirate King, I won't be ordinary anymore," he said thoughtfully.

Gasparde let out a loud laugh, which told them all that he hadn't left yet, "That's pretty big talk!" he turned to Luffy, "Do you know what those words mean on this sea?"

"Not really," Luffy shot back, "But I've decided. If I die fighting for it, then that's that,"

"Damn straight!" Axe nodded, "I'm looking for it, too! I'll kick anyone's ass who wants a piece of me!"

"And we're with our captain," Devon adjusted his jacket, "As long as he doesn't do anything to make us regret it," he muttered the second half, glaring at him.

Gasparde looked at them all, then turned away, "Big mouthed rookies, eh?"

"Hey! I'm no...," Axe paused when he saw Needles close the door behind Gasparde...which was amazing because he hadn't seen Needles move at all!

_I'm no rookie! I've had more experience than Luffy here! _he thought angrily.

"That guy in tattoos creeps me out," Kirsty shivered, "I couldn't even keep track of his movements, and those weapons of his look deadly,"

Axe snorted and started towards the staircase, making a nearby crowd give way for him and the others.

"Let's go guys, everyone's waiting for us,"

-----

After meeting up with the rest of both crews, things seemed to go back to normal...well, whatever normal was for this lively bunch. DJ was telling Devon and Zolo, in great detail, about Mihawk and the scar he had obtained on his left side of his face. Zolo seemed very interested and as DJ told the tale, Devon sensed a connection forming between them.

Meanwhile, Dusty and the girls were being served great food and flattery by the love-cook of the Straw Hats. Herman, Pingu, and Azu were having a drinking contest. Austin stared at them, amazed that Pingu had more than a few small mugs of beer, but didn't seem phased by it at all.

_Looks like Niri's inability to get wasted rubbed off on the bird_ the mute boy thought, turning to his plate of food.

Axe found himself chatting with Rayo and Robin about anything and everything that had happened to him.

"..then, I told Croc '_I have seen the level of Shichibukai, and I know a few men who could surpass it_' and then, before I could wack him, Luffy made a comeback and just pummeled him through the ceiling of solid bedrock!"

Rayo whistled, "Damn...,"

"Yeah," Axe nodded, "Damn right, damn! So," he clapped his hands together, "About what I said earlier, aniki...wanna make a quick buck by betting on my crew?"

Rayo looked straight at him for a few moments, "I suppose I can bet on you guys...," he held up a finger, "But _only_ if you let me board with you guys for awhile,"

Axe blinked in surprise, "You wanna ride with us? Why?"

"To make sure you guys win," Rayo leaned forward, making Axe shrink back in his seat, "You may be a friend of mine, Axe, but I know that with you, I gotta be careful...so," he sat back in his seat, "I'll be a guest for ya,"

Axe gulped, "O-Okay...aniki...but I have a couple of rules,"

"Of course,"

"First, if you find yourself so annoyed you gotta wail on a few of my nakama, don't kill 'em,"

"O'course,"

"Second, you can observe and criticize if you want, but you do _not_ interfere with my abilities as captain of my crew,"

Rayo nodded slowly, "Sounds fair,"

"Finally, the most important rule of all," he leaned close, "Do _not_, under any circumstances, get into my hammock!"

Rayo just stared at him, "...that's...the _most_ important rule?"

Axe sat back and shrugged, "I love my hammock, so sue me,"

Rayo facefaulted and turned to Robin, "I'll never understand him,"

-----

"I never expected we'd find this asshole here of all places!"

"I know...here, we can finally pay him back for screwing us over! He took the money and our Eternal Pose...by the time we got to Alabasta, we had to get through hell just get to back to sea!"

"Shina, as captain, I order you to move your ass!"

"Kimeru...,"

_WHAP!_

"OW! What the hell?!"

"What's the plan, Shinatsu?"

The brunette woman grinned and rubbed her hands together as she looked on at the _Tomahawk_ from the _Nanatsu's_ docking area.

"The plan is...we screw with him and we take the prize money to compensate for our losses,"

Kimeru nodded and held out a poster, "Mind if I take him out? I found this in town...looks old, but if that bounty's still on his head...,"

Shinatsu looked down at the poster of Axe and whistled at the price, "265,000,000 Beli...Kimeru, if you want, try and have some fun with him,"

"Oh, I will," Kimeru rubbed her back, "But, before I go for him, I got two assholes to payback for last time!"

-----

In the HQ of the race, the tall man called Judge and the woman in a mask, the one called Oni, stared down at Axe's group.

"Big bunch...,"

"Mhm,"

"We'll have to wait for them to get seperated before we extend the invitations,"

"Fine," Oni nodded and shrank into the dark shadows of the terrace, "Let's hope their wise enough to accept,"

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Well, there's that one, folks! Sorry for the wait, had a nice break to recharge my creative juices, lol. Anyhoo, I hope it was good! Up next, the start of the race!**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Axe: Get ready guys...hold onto something tight!**

**Dusty: There's so many people here!**

**Niri: Shit! There's Gasparde's boat, _The Salamander!_**

**Azu: DUDE! Awesome ship!**

**Devon: Guys, we got company!**

**Axe: Alright, first fight of the race! Everyone get ready for anything!**

**On Your Mark, Get Set, FIGHT!**

**Rayo: Holy...what is _that_ thing?!**


	12. On Your Mark, Get Set, FIGHT!

**On Your Mark, Get Set, FIGHT!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Let's go guys, we don't have much time!"

Axe ran across the deck of his ship while his crew made preparations, such as raising the anchor, unfurling the sails and checking to see if everything was in the right place.

"C'mon guys, we don't wanna be caught with our pants down,"

"Yeah, we _really_ don't wanna see that,"

Axe shot a glance at Rayo, who was grinning slyly at his own joke.

"Oh, you're a sick man, aniki,"

"Hey, I take what I can get it from ya," Rayo watched the odd crew make the final preparations, "So...what, exactly, are we waiting for? Shouldn't we be heading for the racing area?

Axe checked his watch and looked at the slowly lightening sky, the sun barely peeking over the horizon, "We're on our way,"

Chizuru looked at the Partia Eternal Pose she held and looked back at the others, "We're ready...but you all might want to hold onto something,"

Immediately, Axe gripped a firm hold on the railing of the ship while Dusty latched onto the mast, digging her claws deep into the wood.

All the others looked at them, unsure of what they meant by holding on, but they decided not to chance it. Pingu didn't have to worry about holding onto something, he had found a secure, safe place, holding tightly onto Niri's back, looking over her shoulder towards the front of the boat.

"Three...," Chizuru wrapped a rope around her hand.

"Two...," Axe grinned.

"Why are you guys counting?" Dusty and Rayo asked at the same time.

"ONE!" both captain and navigator cried out.

Seconds later, a huge blast of wind struck the _Tomahawk_ from behind and the next thing they knew, they were heading upstream at a great speed.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Dusty shrieked, wrapping her legs around the mast, "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

Chizuru held her ground as the boat jerked slightly, "That, my dear nakama, was a strong gale wind that comes by this island every few years! It's essential for us if we're to get into this race!"

Axe nodded and pointed ahead, "Look guys, the island's got lotsa of rivers, and they all go upstream. That's where the starting point is, once we get there, the race will be officially started!"

After passing through a large, dark tunnel, the ship came out into an area of town where there were many people standing on rooftops, waving and cheering other pirate ships on as they made their appearances. The crew looked on at different ships. There was a large ship with a drill in the front, whose flag Herman recognized as the Merman Willy's. Another ship was easily recognizable as Straw Hats, what with the mark on the sail and the large goat head in the front.

"Yo, who are those guys?"

Axe turned to see Niri pointing to a ship a short distance away. It had a Jolly Roger flag that showed a skull with a fancy-looking mask and instead of crossbones, it had two batons crossed behind it.

"Those must be the Masque Pirates," Chizuru thought aloud, "Their ship is the _Mardi Gras_, I think...or something like that,"

Azu scanned the area and his jaw dropped at what he saw, "HOLY...guys, check _that _out!" he half-shouted, pointing to something behind them.

Everyone rushed one side of the ship and saw a huge ship making it's way upstream in a seperate area, on the other side of the _Going Merry_. It was a huge ship with a golden serpent headfigure in the front, and many masts with sails. On those sails, they could see the Marine insignia on the cloth, but ontop of the mark, was a giant, dark X that was painted over.

"Shit!" Niri scowled and glared at it, "That's Gasparde's ship, _The Salamander!_"

Azu whistled, "Looks like an awesome ship...," he turned to Niri, and jumped when he saw the dark look she was giving him, "O-Of course...it really is a piece of crap," he said quickly, walking back across the deck.

Rayo glanced at Niri, but then joined Azu and walked back to his original place on the deck, looking out at the different boats and their crews. After a short time of going upstream, every river on the island merged and became a big river, forcing the boats to cruise alongside one another. Not only that, but as they continued upstream, the ships began to suddenly incline as it rose up the side of the mountain.

Axe looked back and saw that most of his crew were thrown off by this and looked like they were about to panic. He grinned, pulled a smaller axe from his belt and cleaved into the ship, holding tightly so he could keep his footing.

"Get ready guys...," he said loudly, "The first step's a _doozy_!"

They all looked at each other, confused.

Moments later, all the ships seemed to level out as they reached the top of the mountain's river. As it did, everyone looked ahead and saw the sun ahead of them, peeking out from behind clouds that gave it a beautiful, red glow. Enthralled by the sight, Axe's nakama didn't have a chance...

Suddenly, the ship seemed to fall out from under their feet as it fell off the Grand Fall, rapidly falling to the new river far below it.

They all screamed as they tried to get back onto solid wood, but Axe was screaming at the top of his lungs with excitement.

"BANZAI!!!!!!!!"

The _Tomahawk _made contact with the new river and everyone that was thrown off before, hit the deck hard. Axe couldn't but wince at them, "Told them the first step was a doozy,"

"Damn you, Axe...," Rayo and Niri muttered, holding their faces as they climbed to their feet, "WARN US NEXT TIME!"

"I did!"

Chizuru checked the Eternal Pose and ran past the bickering friends, "We can't worry about who warned who right now, the race has started and unless we can get the ship to move out of the way of both the crews and the curves of the river, there's a good chance we'll end it here!"

While she ran to the helm, Devon watched as the other pirate crews either opened fire on one another with their cannons, or they boarded each other's ships.

He turned to his sharpshooter friend, "Niri! Get down to the cannons! If we get into a fight, we'll need some firepower!"

Niri gave a short nod, grabbed Dusty by the tail and dragged her below deck, "C'mon, Kit, you can help me and Pingu!"

Dusty struggled, but found herself being dragged below deck.

"Captain?"

Axe turned to see Herman walking up to him, "Yo?"

"Is there something I can do to help in this race?"

His captain looked out at the enemy ships, then looked down at the large river they were on. Tapping his arm, another grin crossed his face.

"I got something for you to do," Axe pointed to the river, "That must be pretty deep right now, so I want you to dive in and take out whosever ship you can!"

Herman blinked in surprise, "Captain...with all due respect, you _know_ how I am with people,"

Axe nodded, "I'm perfectly aware of that, Herman. I did not tell you to kill them, I just said to render as many boats useless as you can. The more you take out, the less we have to worry about," he patted his chef on the arm, "Don't worry, you don't have to kill anybody,"

The lobster merman rubbed the back of his neck, "Well...alright, I guess,"

Rayo walked over as Herman dove into the water, "Interesting strategy...take out who ya can with guns, then wait for your Merman friend to take others out from below,"

"Do you not approve, aniki?"

"Oh, no, no," Rayo shook his head, smiling a little, "Just wanted to make sure what you're doing to get into first place so I can get my betting money,"

Axe opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when _The Salamander _started to pass them. He grinned and laughed under his breath, "Gasparde...there's something I've been wanting to do ever since we met,"

Rayo shook his head again, "You wanna fight him, huh?"

"Yeah, but not right now...too many people and they might get hurt,"

_He's thinking of the inhabitants of the island... _Rayo turned, "Well, then what-," he stopped, facefaulting at the sight that was before him.

Axe was bent over, his pants unbuckled and pulled down to his thighs, his bare ass mooning Gasparde's ship.

"Oh...my...God...,"

"YO! GASPARDE!" Axe stuck out his tongue and smacked a cheek, "Kiss my hiney, wet and shiney!"

Rayo turned away, feeling ill all of a sudden, "_That_...I didn't need to see,"

-----

Despite the excitement of the start of the race, nothing eventful happened as Axe and his nakama sailed into open water. No enemy ships came at them, no one came and boarded them...the only exciting thing that really happened as the damage that Herman, Dusty, Pingu, and Niri had done back at Hannibal.

Taking this pleasant, yet somewhat disappointing free time, everyone had something to do. Devon and DJ sparred, the former giving some pointers on basic swordsmanship. Chizuru and Kirsty talked with Rayo, the three of them learning something new about things. From Kirsty's mentor in Drum and the passing of her skills to Kirsty, to Rayo chatting about anything and everything that happened in his life.

When it came to dinner, Herman showed Rayo his skills as a sea-chef with knowledge of Merman delicacy's and recipes he had learned during his travels. Needless to say, there were no leftovers...not that there usually were any leftovers.

After dinner, Rayo and Axe sat alongside each other, staring at the water as clouds drifted over the evening sky, making it look darker than usual. Rayo belched loudly and patted his stomach.

"I'm not one for pigging out a whole lot, but your chef's stuff is _really_ good," he commented, looking up at the sky.

"Yeah, he's a great guy, like I've said," Axe tore a piece off his meat rack and chewed with his mouth open, "He's always showing us new things everyday...so it's pretty fun to see what he's got," he turned to his friend, "So, any luck finding that ass?"

Rayo remained silent.

Axe looked at the waves, "Sorry, man. I know it's touchy,"

"Don't be," Rayo murmured, "We all have our demons to face...,"

"...our crosses to bear," Axe nodded in agreement, "Some may be bigger than others,"

His informant friend glanced at him, then back out at the sea, "Did you use my teachings while on your journey? Is that how you got such a big bounty?"

"I only used those moves when I had no other choice...my skill with axes and my strength were good enough against most,"

Rayo nodded, "Good to hear...that tells me you're not a _complete_ idiot,"

Axe shot a glare at his friend, "Oi, you wanna-,"

"AXE!" Devon's shouting interrupted them.

The young captain looked over his shoulder to see Devon running over, "Sup?"

"We got company!" his first mate pointed to where he had just come from, "A ship's coming up and fast !"

Axe grinned widely and cracked his knuckles, "Alright, first fight of the race! About damn time!" he hopped off the railing and looked around, "Where is everyone?"

"I think they're still in the galley,"

"Alright, I'll need you out here just in case," Axe turned to Rayo, "Can you go get the others while we get ready?"

"Sure," Rayo nodded and headed towards the galley.

As Rayo shut the door behind him, Axe walked over to where Devon had sighted the ship and leaned outward, hoping to find it before it started to fire on them. He didn't have to wait long, because it appeared behind them, rather close to the boat itself.

When Axe saw the ship, when he saw the metal and wood components, when he saw the cannons and the masts with no sails on them, he facefaulted.

"Oh...crap,"

"It's them again," Devon said, joining him, "Those damn chicks...," he cracked his neck, "Permission to kick ass this time, Cap'n?"

"Only if they attack first, Devon," Axe watched as the advanced looking ship pulled alongside them. He recognized Shinatsu, the young woman with the monocle and the shipwright of the Nanatsu .

He waved at her, "Hey, Shina...look, I don't have time for you guys right now, okay? I'm trying to win a race here?"

"The Dead End Race," Shina nodded, "I know, Axe, we saw you at Hannibal. We figured we could give you payback for the last few times you screwed us over, and in the process, win us a large chunk of money,"

Axe grinned, "You think you can do that, Shina? Last time we ran into each other," he shook his head, "Didn't work out for Kimeru, if you recall,"

Shina opened her mouth to retort, when Raimei, her engineer of sorts approached her and whispered something in her ear. Axe could see a small smile crossing her face.

"Prepare yourself, Devon," he whispered to his First Mate.

The blonde swordsman nodded and ran a thumb over Water Moon, "Got it, boss,"

"Uh...Axe?"

The captain turned to see Rayo exit the galley, looking unsure about something.

"Wassup, aniki?"

"I can't find anyone in there," Rayo jerked a thumb to the galley, "I checked everywhere,"

Axe frowned, "Then, where are they?"

"Don't worry, they're all aboard the ship," a familiar voice assured them.

Axe and Devon spun around to see Kimeru walking up the stairs from below deck, holding onto a bound Austin, her hand gripping the boy's head.

"What the hell-?! What are you doing on my ship?!"

"Bitch, you let go of my brother, _right_ now!" Devon whipped out his katana and gripped it so tight, his knuckles turned white, "Only chance I'm giving you...,"

Kimeru chuckled and pulled her strange, segmented sword from her back, "Axe, to answer your question, I was put here to screw with you and your crew. I'm sure you're familiar with my nakama's abilities as they sing?"

Axe nodded, "Yeah...,"

"Who's she talking about?" Rayo asked, looking back and forth from the four of them.

"I'll explain later, aniki...," Axe said quickly, "Kimeru, what have you done with my crew?"

The swordswoman laughed, "Nothing too badly...with a little help from Herman, I've managed to incapicitate them for the time being...though, some of them will wake up with major headaches,"

Devon advanced slowly on her, his sword pointing straight at her face, "I said...let go...of my brother," he hissed.

"Fight me and we'll see what happens to him,"

Devon cracked his neck, the sound of his neckbones echoing loudly on the ship, "Fine,"

Kimeru smiled, "This is great, I bet that nothing could be better for this...," she glanced at Axe, then eyed Rayo curiously, then chuckled again, "Or maybe I'm wrong? Shina!" she turned to her boss, "Tell the Sisters that it's time!"

"You read my mind Shina, I alerted them a short time ago!" Shina called from the _Nanatsu_, which seemed to drift away from the _Tomahawk_.

Axe opened his mouth, wanting to ask what they meant by that, but before he had a chance to ask, the ship suddenly shook violently, knocking both him and Rayo to the deck while Devon quickly steadied himself.

"The hell was that?" Axe muttered under his breath, "Did we hit a reef or something?"

Kimeru shook her head, "No...but our friend hit you guys,"

As if on cue, the boat began to rock back and forth as the sea around it began to look choppy. Axe climbed to his feet and held onto the mast when something began to rise up from beneath the waves. From the depths of the ocean, a huge, white, snake-like head and neck rose, it's teeth glistening and a low growl coming from it's throat.

"Dammit...," Axe frowned, "We got company,"

"Uh...Axe...?" Rayo tapped his shoulder, "You might wanna see this,"

Axe turned around and his jaw nearly dropped when he saw two more heads coming out of the sea, identical to the first one. The three beasts moved around the ship, each of them looking down on the two of them. Before too long, the three beasts were side-by-side, but when they thought they were going to attack, they did something they didn't expect.

Roaring loudly, the beasts rose a little more out of the water, and both Axe and Rayo could see that all three heads were connected to a single, massive white body hidden by the waves.

Rayo shook his head, "Holy...what is _that_ thing!?"

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: DUN DUN DUN! This isn't good, ya'll! Most of the crew are out of it, Devon's about to fight, and now, there's a huge three-headed monster threatening the ship! AAAHHH!**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Devon: I've been looking for a rematch with you...that sword of yours won't best me this time!**

**Kimeru: Is that so? Well, let's see, shall we? Then afterwards, I'll take your captain's bounty.**

**Devon: Feh, whatever...now, let go of my brother and let's get this on!**

**Rayo: I've never seen a monster like this before! Think it's a Sea King?**

**Axe: Sure as hell ain't a tadpole!**

**Clash and Smash, Revenge of Nanatsu!**

**Axe: You girls think this thing will stop us from winning the race? Heh...how about I show you just what I'm capable of?!**


	13. Clash and Smash, Nanatsu's Revenge!

**Clash and Smash, Nanatsu's Revenge!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"I've never seen a monster like this before...or even heard of one, and it's my job to know things...,"

"Well, it sure as hell ain't no tadpole, aniki,"

Axe and Rayo had to lean their heads back to look up at the three headed behemoth as it loomed over the ship. Rayo cracked and flexed his hands, "This will be interesting,"

"Indeed," Axe stepped forward, "I'll let you know how it goes, aniki. Right now, I want you to go over to the other ship, and knock out the Siren Sisters. Once you do that, Herman will be free of his control, and I may have an easier time with Three-Head here,"

Rayo opened his mouth to protest, he was eager to see what this monster was capable of, but he knew that Axe cared alot of his nakama and that if he was going to fight the monster, then he couldn't help them out. Sighing in defeat, Rayo patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, I'll sit this one out...just don't get yourself killed or eaten,"

Axe grinned widely and gave him the V sign, "Me? Please!"

Rayo rolled his eyes and disappeared in a blur while Axe idly twirled his weapon and Devon stared Kimeru down, Austin at her feet.

"Move, Austin,"

The boy nodded and quickly rolled out, then scurried away from his raging brother. He knew from experience that whenever someone messed with him, Devon showed no mercy against the people who were messing with him.

"Rematch time!" Kimeru thrust her blade forward, and as it did, it seemed to grow longer and longer.

_That damn sword again!_ Devon ducked to the side as it passed him, _I won't be beat this time!_

-----

Axe looked at the behemoth in front of him, trying to figure out what to do for first blood.

"Eeney, meeney, miney, moe...," he muttered, pointed to each head, "Aw, screw it!"

He jumped high into the air and used _Geppou_ to jump across the sky, towards the monster, "You girls think that this thing will keep us from winning the race? Heh...how about I show you just what I'm capable of?!"

As he got closer, one of the heads saw him coming and roared, opening it's jaws wide, it's jagged teeth glistening. Axe grinned, "Hello beastie...," he muttered before rising higher and higher in the sky, thanks to his_ Geppou_ training. When he reached what he felt was the peak, he strapped his weapon to his back,, then with another burst of _Geppou_, he flew towards the monster's mouth like a gunshot.

_"Tekkai 'Cometes' !" _**(1)**

Axe disappeared for a moment as the first head closed its mouth on him, but seconds later, it roared in agony as Axe tore through the back of it's neck, covered in saliva and blood, a grin on his face. The first head writhed in pain, making the other two turn their attention to the bloody pirate instead of his boat and nakama.

"COME ON!" Axe pulled off his weapon and landed on the serpent's joined back, "COME ON YOU BIG, FAT, WHITE PIECE OF SHIT!"

The other two heads roared at the unwanted being on their back. The first head crashed into the water, sending large waves outward and crashing into the _Tomahawk_. Axe sped along the slimy back of the Sea King, his weapon pulled back behind him. When he reached the area where the other two heads were joined, he threw his weapon hard to one side, while he ran up the neck on the other side.

Axe's weapon spun through the air for a short time before cutting deep into the side of the beast's neck. The second head roared in pain as blood gushed from the wound. Growling, the second head watched as the giant weapon spun back around towards it's owner. Axe jumped off the third head's neck and caught it, then swung hard as he came back down on the third head.

The result didn't show up immediately. It took a few moments, but a huge, vertical gash appeared on the third head's face. It stretched from the middle of the forehead to the end of the snout. Axe was sprayed from head to toe with blood once more before he landed on the neck and slid down towards the base.

"You three give up, or you want more?!"

The three heads exchanged growls and turned their attention back to Axe, their eyes filled with anger for the mutilation they had suffered.

"Okay, you want more," Axe cracked his neck, "Happy to oblige!"

-----

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang around the deck of the _Tomahawk_ as Devon and Kimeru had their rematch fight. Devon knew how the segmented sword worked now, he knew what he had to do to not suffer the same injuries he did before.

Kimeru noticed his tactics of ducking and weaving, and she couldn't help but grin, "You're lasting a lot longer than most other people who I fight with," she gave a nod, "You're not a bad fighter, when you have your head on straight,"

"Shaddup and let's get this over with!" Devon snapped, sheathing Water Moon and unsheathing _Geri_ and _Freki_, "I got things to do,"

"Like freeing your nakama?" Kimeru raised an eyebrow as she pulled back her sword, "Hate to tell you, but with the Umiriko's on our side, you don't have much hope of that. You should've thought twice before recruiting a merman on your crew,"

Devon glanced behind Kimeru and chuckled, "Not just a merman...but The Beast,"

"Huh?" Kimeru turned and was surprised to see Rayo on the Nanatsu, waving a friendly wave at them, a smile on his face and a piece of pocky in his mouth. Kimeru could see her other nakama tied around the mast, lumps on the Siren Sisters' heads.

"What the hell?"

"Don't avert your eyes!"

Kimeru snapped her head around to see Devon speed towards her. Quickly, she lashed out at him with her weapon, but Devon managed to duck under again, roll along the floor and thrust both swords into Kimeru's belly.

The swordswoman let out a gasp as her grip on her weapon weakened and the blade fell to the floor with a clatter. Devon snorted and quickly withdrew his weapons, blood dripping from the tips of the ornate blades.

"Consider yourself lucky," he whispered, leaning forward, "Usually, when people mess with my brother...I kill them. I don't hold back like I just did,"

Kimeru's eyes drifted to his, "You..were holding back?" she wheezed, falling to her knees. Devon nodded slowly and watched as the swordswoman fell to the deck, passed out from loss of blood.

"Well, that's one problem taken care of,"

Devon looked over his shoulder to see Rayo now standing behind him, looking over his handiwork.

"Naw...it's both problems," the First Mate pointed to the side.

"Hm?" Rayo turned and his jaw hit the deck when he saw the three-headed Sea King laying ontop of the water's surface, covered in countless gashes and holes, "What the f-?!"

He never got a chance to finish, because as he started to drop an F-bomb, Axe dropped from the sky and landed on the deck, right in front of Rayo, completely soaked with blood. His hair was matted against his head, his clothes and weapons dripped crimson, and his eyes were filled with a strange look.

"Holy crap, kid," Rayo whistled at the fallen beast, "Did you kill it?"

Axe slowly shook his head.

"Was it hard?"

Axe shrugged.

Rayo frowned. Usually, when Axe won something, he was going on about how easy it was.

"You alright, kid?"

Axe slowly lifted his head and looked into his friends eyes for a few moments, then brushed past him and his First Mate, heading for the bathroom. Rayo and Devon looked down to see blood stained footprints being left on the wood of the deck.

As the bathroom door closed and was locked behind Axe, Devon and Rayo looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

-----

"Oh great plan, Shina, goin' up against The Beast!"

"I didn't know he was with Axe!"

"Still, as captain, you should think these things out!"

"Oh great, NOW you say I'm captain,"

Rayo wiped his hands clean as he looked at the crew of seven ladies. It had been a short time since his friend and his nakama won the fight against these ladies and their...friend. Once they had surrendered, they were freed from their bindings and Rayo, with Kirsty's and some of the others help, they managed to patch up the triple-headed Sea King.

Axe cracked his neck, having showered and gotten into dry, fresh clothes. He walked around the group of women, clicking his tongue here and there.

"So, let me get this straight," he looked at them, "You guys...entered this race, to get the prize money, that I can understand. What I don't understand is why you wanted to come after me,"

"You stole our money and our Eternal Pose!" one of the sisters snapped at him.

"Technically, he stole the money, I stole the Pose," Chizuru offered, scratching her neck, "We needed that to get to Alabasta, otherwise, things would've been a lot worse for all of us,"

Shina looked at her, then at Axe.

Axe looked right back at her.

Rayo looked at them both, "You guys got some kinda history?"

"You can say that," both Shina and Axe said at the same time.

"You guys didn't date, did you?"

Both of them shot a deathglare at Rayo, "HELL NO!"

Rayo held up his hands, "Calm down, just asking,"

Axe growled and turned to the female crew, "Now, you listen to me...very carefully, all of you! I have enough problems on my plate without some wannabe pirate crew trying to hunt me down just because I owe them money!" he banged the table hard, hard enough to cause a large crack to spread across it, "I know you're mad at what I did, but I had to do what I did to survive! Get over it!" he backed off and snorted again, "Just get the hell outta here before I change my mind,"

Rayo watched as the crew of young women scrambled out of the room, heading for their ship, then turned back to his friend.

"Little much don't you think?"

"If there's one thing I've learned in my years on this ocean, aniki," Axe ran a hand through his still damp hair, "Sometimes too much is the right amount...and sometimes you gotta get a lot of blood on your hands,"

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Okay, there's that chapter. First off, lemme just say, that I'm kinda suffering some writer's block here, so this chapter prbly wasn't as good as some of ya'll had hoped...sorry, guys! Hopefully, I'll get over it soon. Until then, on my DA account, I've made things called CotA Omake Theater...pretty much (for now) they're short fics that are scenes from my favorite movies with OP OC's and canon characters playing certain characters.**

**Oh! Before I go, I have announcement to make. Since one of my favorite holidays is next month, I will be doing a special One Piece CotA Halloween Fanfic! -trumpet plays- It will feature the Straw Hats, the Axe-Heads, some characters that belong to Rayo Verrani, and Wolfen-Ways. So, be sure to keep an eye out for that ya'll! PEACE!!**

**(1) _Tekkai "Cometes" - _Nearly identical to Blueno's _Tekkai "Sai"_, Axe uses his whole body instead of his fist to inflict a huge amount of damage. _Cometes_ is Latin for comet.  
**


	14. The Pimp of Penguins

**The Pimp of Penguins  
**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**Kilnorc: I know some ppl out there love this guy and prbly have been waiting for this kinda thing...so, while I'm waiting for new ideas to come to me, enjoy this...PINGU CENTERED CHAPTER! -fanfare plays- Most of this chapter is in his point of view, btw.  
**

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Since our encounter with the Siren Sisters again, my crew was met once more with a quiet, bored period of free time...then again, sometimes, that kind of time around here is anything but boring...

As I left Niri's bed the morning after the Siren incident, I made my way to my own drawer, something the girls had made for me when I joined the crew. Inside were all these different colored vests, each one with a Jolly Roger on them, and matching bandannas. Sifting through them, I grabbed my favorite black vest and bandanna and after I got dressed, I walked out of the room, my stomach rumbling.

I need fish...

As I walked towards the galley, I saw some of my nakama going about their lives. While I do love my nakama, I find that most of them are quite annoying. I have a name for each of my crewmates...and I think they fit well with them.

While avoiding the love-struck swordsman and the ditzy kitsune girl, I walked into the galley and saw that the large merman was looking through our fridge. No doubt, the baka captain was having a hunger for meat again. Honestly, why doesn't that dork just ignore that bottomless pit of his for awhile?

After I pushed a chair to the counter, I climbed up and smacked the wood, trying to get Herman's attention.

The merman twisted an eyestalk around, which I kept finding to be a little gross, and when the eye focused on me, it turned back around.

"Hang on Pingu, I'm trying to get the others something to eat...want anything to hold you over?"

I waved a flipper at him, telling him that I could really go for some fish right now, but I guess the only thing he heard me do was honk...honestly, my nakama really need to learn the language of us birds, particularly the noble tongue of penguins!

So, thanks to his inability to understand me, Herman gave me a large cookie, which I took and nibbled on anyway. While I did want fish, I'm always for having a sweet here and there. As I sat in my spot at the table, the galley door opened up and a few more of my nakama entered.

Among them were ones I was very close with. Kirsty, our doctor martial artist and what one would call my master friend, Niri. Ever since I met her in Drum, I have been at Niri's side whenever the time called for it. I don't know what drew me to her, or this crew that day, but until I am told otherwise, I shall stick by them and help them in anyway I can!

"Morning Pingu!" Niri cooed, picking me up and hugging me close to her. I returned the greeting and waved at Kirsty, who smiled at me as she grabbed a drink from the fridge.

"So, Herman, what are you cooking?" Niri asked, turning to our chef.

"Oh, just lunch," the merman waved idly at her, "Nothing special...,"

Niri set me down, and while they were distracted, I swiped a few more cookies from myself and made my escape out of the galley. Quickly and quietly, I made my way back to the girl's quarters and sat down on Niri's bed, laying my baked treasures in front of me. As I chewed on the biggest cookie, I heard the door open and I turned to see Kirsty standing there, arms folded and a stern look on her face.

She walked over to me and bent down to my eye level, "I understand we're pirates, Pingu, but you really shouldn't steal sweet from Herman...he works hard making us the best food and you don't even thank him for that," she tilted her head to the side, "Just think...what would Niri say if she knew you did that?"

My mind drifted to a scenario where Niri did catch me stealing. However, instead of scolding me, she would say something completely different.

"Well done, Pingu, now go steal something from Dusty, too!"

Coming out of my thoughts, I bowed my head to Kirsty, showing her that I was sorry. Lucky for me, I'm incredibly cute, so she patted me on my head, hugged me, and as she left, she warned me not to do it again.

After I had eaten my baked goods, I cleared Niri's bed of all crumbs, and put them on Dusty's bed. I don't hate any of my nakama, but I do love messing with them...so, hopefully, with the crumbs there, she'll either get in trouble for "stealing" the cookies herself, or she'll have an itchy time sleeping tonight.

My appetite had been satisfied for now, so I made my way out again. I walked around the ship, looking out at the water from time to time. As a member of this crew, I knew I had to do my part in this race, no matter how small. For now, I was bit of a lookout. Unfortunately, I'm too good at my duties, because as I watched the sea and walked, I bumped into something. Looking up, I saw that the something was a _someone._

It was the strange transporter friend of our baka captain. He looked down at me for a few moments, then bent down.

"You okay, little guy?"

I gave him a salute and he just stared at me a little bit longer. Obviously, he had never seen a penguin give him a salute before.

"You are one strange little bird,"

I could feel my eye twitching, but I decided to let it go...until the moment I passed him. As soon as I had an open shot, I landed a roundhouse kick to the back of his knee and he went down with a yelp. When I landed on the deck, I looked over my shoulder to see him gawking at me, obviously stunned.

"Wassamatta, never gotten your ass kicked by a bird?!" I asked, giving him the flipper.

"I don't know what you just said, I don't speak penguin...," Rayo muttered, climbing back to his feet, "But I get the feeling it was rude...,"

With a snort, I turned and continued my rounds, leaving the confused man behind.

-----

Later that day, I found myself taking it easy in the baka captain's beloved hammock. Sure, he has this thing about being the only one in it, but what can he do to me? I'm strong enough to take down a group of Dugongs, and I got the adorable pet thing going, so Niri would blast him in the face with her shotgun if he tried anything. I usually try not to be sly with my looks, but many people say "Use what was given to you"...and I do!

As I lay there, the hammock swaying from side to side, my mind drifted to my life before I joined this crew of oddballs and close friends. My life on Drum Island was okay...the weather suited a penguin like myself quite well. A lot better than other islands I've been to. On Drum, I would play with any children that I would come across, and help them if they got lost...the same with the older humans. Hell, if needed, I even clobbered a Laphan or two.

I don't know why I'm so strong, but I don't care. With my strength, not only can I defend myself, but I can defend my family as well. Life as a pirate is filled with dangers of rival crews, bounty hunters, and Marine forces trying to either capture or kill them. I plan on kicking the ass of anyone trying to take Niri, Kirsty, Dusty...any of my nakama!

Well...they could take Axe, I'm not big on him as I am with the rest of the crew.

Anyhoo...I remember my life before Drum Island. I don't remember my birth place, but I know that I was once part of another pirate crew. Many people don't think animals can be pirates, but surprises pop up everyday. I remember being part of a pirate crew made up of other very strong penguins. Together, we sailed the seas, using our cute and innocent looks to get the people into false security...then when the time was right, we'd sneak away with our treasure. There was one rule within our crew...never kill. We could injure a target or an enemy to a point where we'd have an advantage, but we'd never kill a single person or other animal.

My nickname was Runt, because I was the shortest of the crew...something I was teased constantly for, but I didn't mind. I got back at them with a few moves a short time after each teasing session. Speaking of names, I remember the name given to me by those who raised me. Much like Niri's name for me, it sounded very much like the word penguin.

Peng. That was my name in my former crew. Not much of a name, I thought, but I was stuck with it...that and Runt. I've learned that names are important, because they not only give you an identity, but they give this world a story to tell. Everyone knows about the story of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger...so, maybe sometime in the future, they'll hear stories about my new family? I've also learned that names have secrets and meanings behind them. I've heard alot about the people who carry the D initial in their names, and a lot of the traits in each person are quite similiar. After careful thinking...I've come up with a true name for myself. I've combined my old crew name, Niri's name for me, and after adopting the D initial, I've created my true name.

From here on out, I will be known as Peng D. Pingu...and the dream I hold in my heart in this Era of Dreams is to become...GACK!

-Normal POV-

"OH MY GOD, AXE GET OFF HIM!"

_BOOM BOOM BOOM!_

"Niri, I heard you!"

"I know!"

"Then why'd you shoot me!?"

"CUZ YOU SAT ON PINGU!"

Axe rubbed his shrapnel encrusted face while Niri hugged a panting Pingu in her arms, the penguins eyes filled with fear. Niri patted Pingu on the head, "Ish okay, Pingu...big baka Axe didn't mean to try and kill you,"

"I didn't even try to-,"

"Shaddup, Axe," Niri turned on her heel and walked towards the galley, "Herman needs to know not to give you any food today,"

"You can't do that, I'm the captain, I give the orders around here!"

"No food,"

"But, Niri-,"

"Herman!" Niri threw open the doors to the galley, "No food for Axe, he almost killed Pingu!"

"You got it, Niri,"

Axe's eye twitched, "Hey!"

-----

A few miles away, just barely visible over the horizon as the sky began to darken, another boat was following the Tomahawk. On board were four figures, and their sights were set on the Axe-Head's ship.

"Looks like we caught up with them,"

"Don't see why we couldn't just 'port with Oni's power,"

"We have our reasons, Plague,"

"Yeah, get over it,"

"Kiego, you kiss ass, shut up!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Judge snapped, adjusting his sunglasses, "We have a job to carry out and I don't want you two bickering throughout the night,"

His two companions growled, but became silent.

-----

Frustrated, Axe walked around his ship and noticed Rayo standing at a railing, looking out at the water. He walked over and stood beside him, "Yo, aniki,"

"Hey, kid,"

"Wassup?"

Rayo frowned and began chewing on a stick of pocky, "I'm not sure...for some reason, I'm getting this weird vibe,"

"What kinda weird vibe?"

His friend slowly shook his head, "The kind...like in a major storm? It's the calm before it happens. You know something's off and then, poof, the whole ugly comes right at ya without mercy,"

Axe chewed on his tongue, "How long you been feeling the vibe?"

"For a while now...I don't like this," Rayo glanced at Axe out of the corner of his eye, "Something's coming...I can feel it,"

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Alrighty, special Pingu chapter is done! Wootness! Sorry if it wasn't good. For one thing, I'm not good with 1st person POV, I'm really not. As you can probably see, I've used a small reference to Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged Series...that small scene in this chapter was inspired by a friend's fanart on Deviantart, starring our own Pingu, Kirsty, and Niri. Anyhoo, hope ya liked, and with the four people, they belong to Dude of Doom, to who I apologize if I've messed up their personality and behavior in anyway...later ya'll!**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Kirsty: Anyone gettin' the feeling that we're not alone?**

**Dusty: I'm creeped out here...look, my tail's standing on ends!**

**Devon: Probably just your imagination...if anyone was here, Austin would've warned us.**

**Niri: Stay frosty, people.**

**Axe: Oi oi oi...who are you four, trespassers? You got a lot of balls to come onto a pirate's ship uninvited!**

**Judge: We've heard of you and your nakama, Captain Axe...we're here to talk to a few of them.**

**Axe: Screw you. Get off my ship or I'll kick your ass.**

**Oni: So foolish...guess Plan B it is, then?**

**Rayo: Axe, don't you know who those people are? They're the Hanshi!**

**The Deadly Killers, The Hanshi Four!**

**Niri: LET'S ROCK!  
**


	15. The Deadly Killers, the Hanshi Four!

**The Deadly Killers, The Hanshi Four!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece. Dude of Doom owns the Hanshi, and Rayo owns...well, Rayo.**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"So, Judge, Oni...who exactly are we here for?"

"What do you mean, Kiego?"

"I mean...we know The Beast is here, we know that Axe guy is here, and we've seen the bounty posters of his crew...?"

Judge took the posters from his coat and laid them for them all to see, "Besides Captain Axe, whose bounty is a little more than half of one of our bounties, Devon the Demon and the girl known as White Dragon are the ones we're after. Apparently, these two did something in Alabasta that made their bounties rise,"

"Alabasta?" Plague repeated, "The same country that was nearly taken over by Sir Crocodile?"

"One and the same,"

"Huh," Kiego scratched his chin, "What'd this demon kid do?"

"Apparently, with the help of Pirate Hunter Zolo, he took down Das Bones, the famous assassin,"

"DAMN!" Plague clapped slowly, "This will be fun...what about the girl?"

"I don't know about her...it's just that her bounty skyrocketed after Alabasta. The Government must think she's dangerous for a rookie, or something,"

Oni sighed and stood up, strapping her blade to her hip, "If we're done chatting, ladies...we have a very important meeting to get to,"

"Jeez, Oni, what got your panties in a bunch...," Kiego muttered, looking at her ass, "You _are_ wearing panties aren't you?"

"Don't make me kill you,"

-----

"Jeez, how much longer is this gonna take?!"

Chizuru sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly as Dusty paced around behind her. Indeed, it did seem like they were taking a long time to win a simple race...but they couldn't help it. As long as they followed the Pose to Partia, they were on the right track...all they had to worry about was running into enemy ships such as Gasparde or Straw Hat. While they were friends of Straw Hat Luffy and his crew, in this race, they were enemies, meaning that anything could happen between them.

"Chizzy...," Dusty put her head on hers, whining loudly, "Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"_No..._,"

"Are we there yet?"

"If I say 'yes', will you stop asking me?"

"Of course. So, are we there yet?"

"Yes, Dusty, we're there!"

"LIAR!"

Chizuru sighed in frustration as Dusty stomped out of the room, _Must resist temptation to screw her mind up...must resist...must resist...!_

Outside, Dusty stomped around the deck, muttering under her breath about how Chizuru was mean and lied to her. As she walked around, she saw Rayo leaning back against a mast, a distant look in his eyes. She made her way over to him and waved a hand in front of his eyes, "Yoohoo...,"

Rayo's eyes slowly turned to her, "Something I can help you with, fox?"

"Are you alright, Rayo?"

"No,"

"Why?"

"Because, his instincts are giving him a bad feeling,"

Dusty turned to see Axe, Kirsty, Devon, and Niri coming out the galley, her sniper friend closing the door behind her. Kirsty took a sharp breath and held her arms, "I'm starting to share his feeling...like, we're not alone here,"

"Not alone?" Dusty paled a little, "Aw man...now I feel creeped out," she looked behind her and grabbed her tail, "See? My tail's standing on ends!"

Devon looked around, then shook his head, "Probably your guys' imagination...if there was anyone here besides us, then Austin would've warned us. You forget guys, we got his sensing ability...heck, even Chizuru has her own to a degree,"

"Where are those two anyway?"

"Chizuru's checking the maps," Dusty reported.

"Austin's sleeping," Devon added, "Don't worry, even when he sleeps, if something comes and it's not supposed to, he'll let us know, trust me,"

Rayo frowned a little, "Still doesn't help the nagging feeling I've been having. It might be a good idea to search the ship," he suggested.

"Yeah, good call," Axe turned his nakama, "Kirsty, Niri, you check on the others while Devon and Dusty check below decks,"

The four of them nodded.

"Gotcha, Cap'n,"

"I don't wanna go down there, it's dark...and creepy now,"

"Suck it up, kit,"

Niri checked the barrels on her guns, "Stay frosty people,"

As the group split up, Kirsty noticed Niri take out her shotgun, holstering her pistols. She caught her gaze and closed the barrel.

"I'd like to keep this handy...for close encounters," she explained in a quiet voice.

Kirsty nodded, "I heard that,"

When the two groups disappeared to their respective areas, Axe turned to Rayo, "I hope you're wrong aniki...about something coming,"

"I am too, kid...,"

"Why can't you just sniff the air?" Axe questioned, "You ate the Neko Neko fruit, just be all cat-like!"

Rayo facefaulted, "You're an idiot,"

"An idiot with a mighty bounty," a deep voice said quietly.

The two of them spun around and were surprised to see four people standing on the railing of the ship. One was a tall man in a dark coat, another was a woman in a tight bodysuit and mask. The third one was a man with dark green hair, wearing black, baggy pants. The fourth and final one was another young man who had long black hair and a brown trenchcoat.

"Oi oi oi...who are you four, trespassers?" Axe demanded, stepping forward, "You got a lotta balls to come aboard a pirate's boat uninvited,"

The tall man in black chuckled and adjusted his sunglasses, "We've heard of you and your nakama, Captain Axe...we're here to talk to a few of them,"

"Screw you," Axe snapped, gripping a throwing axe on his belt, "Get off my ship or I'll kick your ass," he threatened.

Rayo grabbed his friend and pulled him close, "Axe, don't you know who these people are?!" he whispered.

"Yeah, four assholes who're gonna meet my blades if they don't leave,"

Rayo smacked him upside the head, "They're the Hanshi!"

"The Han-what?"

"The Hanshi!" Rayo snapped, "Four people with a bounty of 500,000,000 Beli each! Together, that's a bounty total of 2,000,000,000 Beli!"

Axe's jaw dropped and he turned back to the four. The woman in red was laughing quietly to herself.

"So foolish...looks like Plan B it is, then?" she asked, turning to the large man in black, "Judge, shall we?"

"It seems we have no choice," the man adjusted his sunglasses again, "We do have a job to do, after all,"

"A job that you'll fail at!"

Axe snapped his head to the side to see Niri and the rest of his nakama step into view, each one holding their weapons and looking ready to fight. Before Axe could order them not to attack, Niri aimed her shotgun at the nearest of the four.

"LET'S ROCK!!"

-----

Being stationed at a Marine stronghold did mean that sooner or later, an outlaw's vessel would cross your path and you would either sink it or arrest the crew aboard, but no one could predict the pirate activity today! One right after another, a pirate boat appeared and tried to pass through the Marine stronghold that was made into the two adjacent cliffsides. Needless to say, it was a perfect spot for crossfire.

"Lieutenant! Lieutenant Fortune!"

A young, beautiful woman with dark, tan skin with long, blonde hair, dressed in a Marine uniform and jacket turned her neck to see a lower ranking officer approaching her. Shouldering the large case on her shoulder, she turned around, her blue eyes staring straight into the other Marine. He gave a salute and she returned it.

"What is it, private?" she demanded in a cold voice.

The soldier didn't answer right away. He kept staring at the Lt's large chest that seemed to press up against her uniform. As he stared, he could swear that the buttons were trying hard not to pop off.

"Eyes up here, soldier," Fortune demanded, snapping her fingers, "Up here, not down here,"

"Sorry, ma'am!" the private snapped his head up, looking right at her face now, "We keep getting reports that more and more pirate ships are appearing between the rocks!"

"And?" Fortune raised an eyebrow, "Are we blasting the crap out of them, or are we just turning a blind eye?"

The soldier shook his head, "No, of course not, ma'am! We are blowing them clear out of the water but...," he trailed off.

"But what?"

"It's strange, ma'am, but these ships just keep coming and coming! We don't know where they're coming from, but they're coming right for us, and right through us!"

Fortune hummed and folded her arms, "This...is very interesting. The only place that could be accessed through us is a Marine fortress...,"

"Lieutenant Fortune! Lieutenant Fortune!"

Sighing, the woman turned to see another private running towards her, "What is it, rookie?"

"You have a call on the Den Den Mushi! It's from your Commander!"

Without another word, Fortune rushed past them and headed for the communications room. As she left, the two privates looked at one another in silence.

The female Lieutenant entered the communications room and picked up the Den Den Mushi that had her Commander on hold.

"Sir, 2nd Lieutenant Fortune reporting!"

**"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya kid,"** a gruff voice muttered through the snail phone, **"Listen, I want you to be careful out there,"**

"I always am, sir," Fortune replied, pausing. She could hear another voice on the phone and from the sound of it, the owner was getting into an argument with her superior officer.

**"Damn stump,"** her Commander's voice grunted, **"Anyway, the reason I want you to be careful is because the group called The Hanshi have been reported in your area,"**

Fortune took a sharp breath, "The Hanshi? The four people who are worth over a billion beli?"

**"The one and the same, kid. Listen, I have no doubt you know this, but I'll remind you anyway: these assholes aren't like the group of four that belong to the Jade Rat, alright? Those punks have a guy who can control them...these Hanshi freaks are nothing but killers,"**

"I've read their files," Fortune nodded, though she knew her superior couldn't see it, "If I see any of them, I'll get them a blast of _Lady Luck_, and they'll go down,"

**"If that happens, make sure you kill them! Two of them can avoid a blast, so make sure you get it right the first time, otherwise you'll be added to their list of victims!"**

"I know sir," Fortune chuckled and leaned against the desk, "Any word from my brother and the others?"

**"Naw...nothing from Atreyu yet. I'll be dropping by his station later on, but if you want, I can come by and pick you up,"**

"I'd appreciate that, sir, thank you,"

**"Hey, you two are like my kids...gotta treat you right,"**

**"UNLIKE ME, WHO HE TREATS LIKE CRAP!"** a new voice interrupted loudly, making Fortune wince and pull the phone away, **"THIS GUY'S A COMPLETE ASSHOLE!"**

**"Sonofabitch! Shorty, quit pole-dancing on my leg!"**

**"Gimme the Den Den Mushi!"**

**"Forget it!"**

Fortune sighed and placed the receiver back on the snail body, "Commander and the 1st Lieutenant...it's amazing they haven't killed each other, yet," she cracked her neck, "Well, at least I got something to do besides listening to dull reports...,"

-----

"Shit, these guys are pathetic!"

Dusty fell to the deck unconcious, her back against the wall. Off to the side, DJ was holding a wound with one hand and holding his sabre with another as he glared down Kiego, who held a large, sharpened bone in his hand. Niri had her own problems. She was pinned to the deck floor with another bone rammed through her right hand and into the wood, her blood pooling around her hand. Azu and the others were scattered all around the ship.

Kiego cracked his neck and held out his arm as yet another large bone appeared, stretching out of his limb. With a jerk, he broke the bone off and gripped it tightly.

"We got a piss poor musician swordsman, a klutzy fox girl, a wimpy sniper-,"

"FUCK YOU, BONE BOY!" Niri yelled at him, trying to grab her discarded shotgun that lay just out of her reach, "When I get a good shot, I'm blowing your balls off, then I'll blow off your damn head!"

Kiego shook his head and stalked over to her, fingering the bone, "You're kinda cute...hows about you just disown this bunch of wimps and come with us?"

Niri flipped him the bird.

"Bitch," he raised the bone, aimed for her chest, but he never got the chance because the next thing he knew, he was flying across the deck.

Niri looked to see Pingu landing on the deck, a pissed off look in his eyes and his flippers up and ready to beat the crap out of anyone who came at Niri.

"Pingu, I owe you one!"

The penguin honked as he pulled the bone of his friend's hand. She winced as she tore a piece of her shirt off and wrapped it around her hand. Pingu tossed her the shotgun and she checked the barrels.

"We'll teach this prick to screw with us, Pingu!"

"What about me?!" DJ stumbled to his feet, "I can take him!"

"Watch over Dusty, DJ...she's out and she can't defend herself. Protect her, got it?"

"YOSH!"

-Meanwhile-

_Damn, this girl's good!_ Devon thought as he fought hard to block Oni's blades, _This is a harder fight than with Kimeru..._

"C'mon, Demon, fight me!" Oni shrieked, swinging her sword for his neck, "Show me the strength you possess!"

"Aw, bite me, bitch!" Devon growled as he landed a kick on her stomach, making her double over. He raised his swords for a fatal move, but as he brought them down, he missed...she wasn't there anymore!

"What the hell?!"

"Missed me?" Oni's quiet voice hissed in his ear seconds before Devon felt the cold steel of her sword against his neck, "You're gonna have to work harder to even scratch me, Demon...I have the ability to move wherever I wish,"

_A Fruit user?_ Devon scowled deeply, _Just perfect..._

With surprising strength, Oni pushed Devon down to his knees, her blade still against his throat.

"Just be a good boy and I'll make sure this will be over soon enough,"

Devon opened his mouth to snap at her, but didn't get the chance to do so because a loud scream ripped through the air. Both sword users turned to see a figure, completely covered in fire burst out of the galley, waving it's arms wildly. As it ran outward, Azu and Austin stepped out of the galley, the former holding a liquor bottle and the latter wearing his gloves.

The blonde grinned, "Kickass, little bro," he whispered.

"Shit!" Oni turned to the large man in black, who was calmly sitting down at the front, Axe standing in front of him, looking tense, "Judge! Put Plague out!"

Judge slowly rose to his feet and brushed past Axe calmly, removing his coat. With a flick of his wrists, his large coat covered the flaming figure, patting his partner hard, stamping the fire out. He looked under the coat and was surprised to see Plague in such a horrid state. Most of his hair had been burned off and his flesh was horribly burned.

"Plague, what happened?" he hissed.

"That damn...that damn punk and drunk...lit me on fire...what the...fuck do you think happened?!" Plague screamed through the pain.

Judge nodded and covered his comrade again, picking up both his crossbows, "Stay here...rest...I shall make this quick,"

The large man turned to Azu and Austin, the former stepping in front of the boy, his fists raised, cheeks slightly red. Judge stepped over his partner and raised both bows, aiming straight of Azu.

"Punish..,"

"I DON'T THINK SO, ASSHOLE!"

Judge flew into the nearest mast hard, creating a large crack in it. Axe lowered his boot, a serious look on his face. Since Rayo had gone to help out whoever he could in their own problems, Axe was the only one left who could probably take this guy on.

The large man picked himself up, and turned around. Axe stared in horror at what he saw. Even though he was wearing sunglasses, and he knew where his comrades were...Judge had no eyeballs in his sockets!

"What the fuck are you?!"

"A former priest," Judge growled, picking up his crossbow, "Who has a job to do,"

"What job is that?"

"To invite the strong to our crew," Judge pointed to Devon, "He and the White Dragon girl...they have potential, potential that our captain would like to have on his side,"

"What's your captain's name?!"

"His name is Stein Madro, and he commands the Dark Death Pirates," Judge said evenly, "A pirate with a bounty of 750,000,000 beli, and a man who's always looking for fresh blood,"

Axe snorted and pulled out his giant weapon, "So, you're trying to recruit my nakama? I got your answer pal...hell no. Go and tell your captain that if he wants crewmates, he gets off his lazy ass and find them himself. If he wants anyone from my crew...anyone of my family...then he'll have to do it over my dead body,"

Judge seemed to stare at him, though Axe couldn't be sure since he had no eyeballs. The large man sighed and turned, "Oni...get Kiego, we're done here,"

"Aw...fuck...you're kidding...right?!"

"I'm afraid not, Plague," Judge shouldered his bows and picked up the burn victim, his coat still covering the burnt form, "We should go...injured needs time to heal,"

Axe, and the nakama he had at the front, watched as Oni appeared next to Judge, holding onto Kiego with one hand and Judge with the other. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared. The young treasure hunter fell on his rear, filled with confusion.

"What the hell...? This is supposed to be a race!"

-----

"...and that's it, Captain,"

**"Hmm...very interesting. You say that the White Dragon girl has a healing ability?"**

Oni took the Den Den Mushi from Judge, "Yes sir...she's a Devil Fruit user, that's the only way to explain it,"

A dark chuckle came from the other end, **"I see...so that explains her bounty. What about this Demon you told me of?"**

"He didn't put up a challenging fight, but I sensed something about him, Captain," Oni reported, "There's something going on with this crew, and I get the feeling that we'll be hearing alot more about these kids...especially with Captain Axe as their leader,"

**"Yes...that boy does have a way with crimes against the Government, from what I hear. This will be most interesting,"**

Then the Den Den snail went silent.

-----

"Aw man, that hurts like a sonofabitch...,"

"I'm sorry that I can't do much more, DJ...," Rayo apologized as he finished the bandages on the musician, "Axe said that Kirsty shouldn't use her ability to full extent in case there's more attack on us. She's patching the others up, but you should be okay. The bleeding stopped for now and the bandages will keep the wound clean and closed,"

"Thanks, Rayo,"

"No prob, kid," Rayo waved him off before rinsing his bloody hands in the infirmary sink, "I'm surprised none of you died in that attack though. The Hanshi are known for killing alot of people...,"

"Really? I've never heard of them,"

"That's because not everyone outside the military knows of them," Rayo explained, drying his hands, "I know of them because I'm an informant. It's my job to know things and it pays off very well at the right time,"

DJ hummed quietly as he slowly put on his shirt, "Those psychopaths...Axe said they wanted to recruit some of us...and who the hell is this Stein Madro guy?!"

"From what I've heard around the sea, a sick sonofabitch just like the Hanshi," Rayo pulled out a pocky and began chewing on it, "I hope Axe didn't sign your guys' death warrants by cursing out his messengers,"

The sound of angry yelling made DJ and Rayo look at each other, curious looks on their faces. They exited the infirmary and walked to the source of the noise. Inside the galley, Axe was seething, his shoulders heaving up and down. DJ looked at his bandaged nakama around the galley and they gave him a "careful, Axe's in a pissy mood" look.

"Axe, what's wrong?" Rayo asked slowly.

Chizuru stood up, giving her captain time to calm down. In her hand was the Eternal Pose to Partia...except that the plaque that had PARTIA engraved on it was gone, and now it said Navarone on it.

"We've been duped, Rayo," she reported, setting the Pose down, "This is the Pose we got from Hannabal...it's a fake,"

Rayo frowned, "A fake? So that means...,"

"We're not going to Partia, we're going to Navarone Island, where a Marine fortress resides," Niri chimed in, "We're being cheated out of our prize money,"

"By who?"

Axe punched the nearby wall and a large hole appeared, splinters falling to the ground.

"Hey, watch the wood, man," Azu whined.

The treasure hunter cracked his neck, "Gasparde...Gasparde has tricked all of us! Chizuru and Niri stopped the ship from advancing before we got too far. So, right now, we're completely lost, tired, and injured...we're not doing so well!"

Rayo cursed under his breath, "Great, there goes my money...,"

"Not exactly," Chizuru walked over to Austin and placed her hands on his head, "I've been thinking...Austin and I have our own rare gifts...and I think...that if we combine them, we can find Gasparde and get back on track,"

Everyone became quiet and looked at one another. Soon, they all turned to Axe, who began to slowly nod.

"I say that we hunt this asshole down...and kick his ass for making us go through this shit!"

Rayo grinned and cracked his knuckles, "Normally, I'd let you do this on your own, or advise you to do something different...but this guy has messed with me, too. Count me in his ass-kicking, Axe,"

"YOSH!" Axe pointed to Chizuru and Austin, "If you're tellin' the truth and can team up with Austin's mantra, then do it and point us in the right direction!"

Chizuru nodded, "Right away, Captain,"

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: -sighs- aw man...hehehe...it's official, ya'll. I'm running low on ideas, and I doubt that with them, I'll be able to steer away from the ending. So, this is the last battle thing with OC's and next chapter or chapters, will have Gasparde and some of the Straw Hats! LOL, sorry guys, but that's the way it is. However, after this, I'll be able to do my original arc which I've been planning for a long time. Anyhoo, later ya'll!**

**P.S. Dude of Doom, I'm sorry I roasted Plague alive, but it's one of the few good ideas I've had...so...sorry! -nervous laugh-**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Axe: There's the Salamander! Gasparde, prepare to get your ass kicked!**

**Rayo: I got a baaad feeling about this...**

**Niri: Guys, look! It's the Going Merry! Luffy must be after Gasparde, too!**

**Luffy: You guys, don't interfere! This is my fight!**

**Axe: Alright...well, we have to honor his wishes and not fight...so what's that leave us, aniki?**

**Rayo: ...I wonder how much money Gasparde would pay to repair this ship if it got severely damaged?**

**Revenge! Assault on the Salamander!**

**Dusty: EW!**

**Niri: THAT'S GASPARDE'S DEVIL FRUIT?!**

**P.P.S. Sorry if it's not all that good, I tried on this one...hehehe **


	16. Revenge! Assault on the Salamander!

**Revenge! Assault on the Salamander!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece!**

** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Ow, ow, ow...,"

"Sorry, but it'll all be over in a few moments,"

Niri bit her tongue as Kirsty carefully peeled away the bandages from her hand. Her doctor friend placed her hands over and under Niri's and they both watched as a white glow appeared. A few moments later, Kirsty pulled back her hands and the two of them saw that Niri's hand was fully healed now.

"Thanks, Kirsty," Niri said gratefully, flexing her hand and fingers, "God, that feels so much better...for a minute there, thought I wasn't gonna be able to shoot with this hand anymore,"

"Don't worry about it," Kirsty patted her on the shoulder, "It's what I'm here for,"

Outside the infirmary, Rayo and Axe had been watching them, and they had pulled away into the hallway.

"That is some Devil Fruit," Rayo said thoughtfully, chewing on yet another pocky stick, "You say she can heal with it?"

"At least five times a day...after that, unless she gets better at mastering it, she becomes weakened," Axe explained, jerking a thumb to the infirmary, "You should see the negative power that thing has to. Once, she broke a guy's arm into pieces with that,"

"How the hell she do that?"

"I dunno, but she hasn't done it since...," Axe shrugged, "I guess since she doesn't have total mastery of it, she doesn't know it's full potential,"

"Hmm...," Rayo looked to his friend, "Any word on Gasparde's ship yet?"

Axe shook his head, "Naw, but Chizuru said she'd send for us whenever we came across it...it shouldn't be too long though...I have faith in my nakama, and if she says we'll reach him, then we'll reach him," he cracked his neck, "That asshole's gonna pay...,"

"You're really looking forward to kickin' his ass, aren't you?"

"Aren't you? He did screw with your chances to get your winnings outta this race,"

"I am, sure, but I wanted to know how much you wanted to so I know if we have to take turns while kicking his ass,"

Axe grinned widely, "Maybe, we'll see...I heard he has a Devil Fruit though, so we should be careful,"

Rayo nodded, "Makes sense...don't wanna go into full battle mode without much information," he mused, "If I did, I'd be a hypocrite...,"

"In addition to a pain in the ass?"

Axe was sent flying into the nearest wall while Rayo walked off, chewing on his candy.

Niri and Kirsty stared at Axe's head in the wall.

"Baka...,"

-----

"Captain! Captain, come look!"

Chizuru stared at the sea, the wind blowing her hair hard around her as her captain and the others came running to her spot on the deck. The sky was darkened but not just because the time of day, but by huge, thick, dark clouds that blanketed the sky. The water also changed from calm to chopper, the dark waves sloshing hard against the boat's sides.

The red-haired navigator pointed ahead and everyone followed her finger to see a familiar ship with a giant golden figurehead on the front and sails with a large X mark on the sails.

"There's the _Salamander_!" Axe grinned and cracked his knuckles, "Gasparde, prepare to get your ass kicked!"

"Guys! Guys, look!" Niri pointed in another direction, holding up a pair of binoculars, "It's the _Going Merry_! Luffy must be after Gasparde, too!"

Axe and Rayo looked at the oncoming caravel-class ship, then at Gasparde's ship.

"This is gonna be fun...," Axe's grin widened.

Rayo looked at the boats and all around him, "I got a baaad feeling about this...,"

"Looks like the paddle-wheel's stopped," Niri reported, looking through the binocs again, "I don't know what's going on, but something must've happened over there...," she turned to her friends, "I'm starting to share Rayo's bad feeling,"

"You ain't the only one," Dusty muttered.

-----

While the others steered the ship closer and closer to the Salamander, Axe and Rayo used their Rokushiki skills to board. They landed in a relatively empty area on the deck. Making their way around the ship, they came to a stop when they saw Luffy staring up at Gasparde, and off to the side was the bounty hunter from Hannabal, the one called Shuraiya. That one didn't look so well, seeing as he was laying in a crumpled heap.

"Looks like Straw Hat's about to face off...," Rayo thought aloud.

Axe grinned, "Yeah...c'mon, aniki!"

Before Rayo had a chance to reply, Axe darted onto the spot on the deck where Luffy and the former Marine were standing.

"Oi! Luffy!" Axe waved casually, as though nothing was wrong, "I'm surprised to see you here! Came to help me fight, eh?"

Gasparde raised an eyebrow at him and Rayo as the latter walked into view. Luffy cracked his neck, "Axe...,"

"Yosh?"

"Don't-,"

"Man, you'd think it'd be easy to board a ship like this...,"

"Tell me about it, kit...,"

"What's going on?"

Axe and Rayo turned to see Azu, Dusty, and Niri standing near the edge of the ship where a large rope was dangling over the side. Their captain frowned.

"I thought I told you, Azu and Niri to stay on the ship?" he asked Dusty,

Dusty jerked a thumb to Niri, who was glaring daggers at Gasparde, "She wanted to come...and I wanted to see a fight," she explained.

Axe opened his mouth to order them off, but was cut off when Luffy raised his hand.

"Guys, don't interfere! This is my fight!"

_Oh, you have got to be kidding!_ Axe and Niri thought at the same time, _You took down Crocodile, let someone else bust a move!_

Rayo looked at Luffy, then Axe, "Okay...?"

"Fine," Axe turned away, looking disappointed, "We'll honor your wishes and not fight...but if you lose, he's mine!" he looked at Rayo, "Well, what does that leave us, aniki?"

The informant's face looked around, and a sly grin slowly spread across his face. He walked over and leaned forward, "How much money do you think Gasparde would use to repair this ship if it was severely damaged?"

Axe blinked for a few moments before the same grin crossed his face.

"Oh, you're evil...,"

Dusty, Azu, and Niri sweatdropped.

"Uh...okay?"

"I don't like those looks,"

Azu turned and his jaw hit the floor. He slowly reached over and tapped the shoulders of his two female nakama, "Guys...?"

Niri and Dusty turned and their jaws dropped too when they saw that Luffy's hand was now stuck inside Gasparde's abdomen...which now looked green and gooey.

"EW!" Dusty shrieked.

Niri stared in horror and surprise, "_That's_ his Devil Fruit ability?!"

Gasparde heard her cry and laughed coldly, "_Ame Ame no Mi_...it gives me the ability to change my body into candy syrup," he explained.

Dusty whimpered and looked away, tears rolling down her face, "There goes my love of candy...,"

"GUYS!"

The three nakama turned to see Rayo heading down into the ship, but Axe had stayed behind.

"Listen to me, alright, and listen close," he came closer so Gasparde wouldn't hear as he slugged Luffy hard over and over again, "We're gonna blow this shitty boat sky high...but we need some help. Azu, you're coming with us, 'cause you're a shipwright, you know boats. Niri, I need you and Herman both for this. We need some explosives and Herman could do some damage to the bottom of the boat,"

Azu frowned, "Why explosives, boss? With this kinda ship, we just fuck with the engine and system, and boom," he grinned, "No more Gasparde!"

Niri shook her head, "Aw hell no. This boat was taken over by a traitor and if it's under his control, then it deserves to be blown up!" she made her way to the rope, "I'll tell Herman to help out. Dusty, get back on board!"

"But...,"

"NOW!!!" Niri yelled over the noise, "Or else, I'll hide the cookies!"

"NUUU! NOT THE COOKIES!"

Axe shook his head and made his way down below deck to join Rayo.

"Let's make some pretty fireworks...,"

-----

"Any one have any idea what the hell is going on?!" Devon snapped his head to Chizuru, who was looking out at the water, "Chizuru! You got some mind power, can't you tell-,"

"Devon...,"

The swordsman stopped, "What?"

Chizuru turned as the wind picked up and the sea around them became more and more choppy, "We can't stay for very long...if we do, we'll die,"

"Oh, c'mon, you know our captain and Rayo can kick Gasparde's ass! They even got Luffy up there so they're a triple threat!"

Chizuru shook her head and looked back out at sea, holding onto her hat tightly, "Not what I'm talking about Devon...I just hope the others will be done before it comes,"

"Before what comes?"

The red-haired navigator rushed past him, "Trouble,"

-----

"Shit, you think they packed enough gunpowder?"

"Aniki, if there's one thing I've learned is that one can never have too much gunpowder," Axe grabbed a few of the barrels that Niri and Herman had brought from their ship, thanks to a large gaping hole the merman had made with a punch.

While Niri and Rayo took the rest of the gunpowder, Azu walked over to Herman.

"Listen, Red, we'll do some major damage in here, but it'd better if you took out some keypoints, too,"

Herman frowned, "Why would I have to do that? If you're gonna blow stuff up...?"

"Just trust, Herman, it's gonna be better this way," Azu leaned out of the hole and looked around, "Go for the rudder, bottom of the hull, and keel. Punch the shit outta them and rip 'em apart if you want...just destroy 'em,"

The lobster man nodded and dove back into the water while Azu turned back to his group.

"Boom time, baby!"

After receiving directions and advice from Azu, the four invaders split up inside the boat, carrying their respective loads of gunpowder. Surprisingly, there wasn't anyone aboard the ship...except a few straggling men of Gasparde who were desperate to get off, an old man at the boiler, and Sanji, who was carrying two bags of flour.

It turns out that the old man was trying to blow up the ship as well, and Sanji said the flour would help his captain in the fight against Gasparde. Once they placed their respective barrels of gunpowder in the weaker areas, the four invaders ran up top just in time to see Gasparde receive a huge mast beam through the back, thanks to Luffy.

Rayo winced as Luffy landed a _Gumo Gumo no Yari_ on Gasparde's head, splattering his candy syrup body all over the deck, "Oh that's just nasty...,"

"Captain! Guys!"

Axe turned to see Chizuru waving at them from the rope that connected to the Tomahawk, "WHAT?"

"We have got to go, right now!"

"I know, I know!" Axe waved her off as he led the others to the side, "Ship's gonna blow and-,"

"Not because of that, but because of _that_!" Chizuru pointed off to the side.

Everyone turned and stared in awe at the sight of a huge water cyclone in the distance...and it was speeding towards them at an astonishing rate.

Rayo cursed, "Aw man, that's not good...even with our skills, I don't think we'd survive it," he hopped down onto the boat, "Let's go, let's go!"

Axe waited until his friends were on board, but as he prepared to join them, he stopped and looked back.

"Axe, c'mon!" Rayo shouted over the noise, "With that cyclone and the ship on the verge of exploding, we don't have a great window to get the hell away from here!"

The young treasure hunter looked back at his friends, and shook his head, "Not yet! I gotta do something!"

"Axe-!"

But Axe either ignored the shouts or didn't hear them, because he turned tail and disappeared from view.

"Baka!" Rayo punched the railing, "What the hell is he trying to do?! He can't fight, Luffy told him not to!"

As the _Tomahawk_ began to drift away from the _Salamander_, everyone watched as the large ship exploded with a thunderous boom, pieces of metal and wood flying everywhere and it's golden figurehead sinking into the sea. Everyone on the Tomahawk looked on in silent shock...until finally, Niri ran to the railing.

"AXE!"

"Don't worry, he's alright!"

Niri snapped her head to Chizuru, who looked like she was concentrating on something, "Are you sure?!"

The navigator nodded and ran for the helm, "I'm very sure...and I'm also very sure that we gotta get the hell outta here otherwise, the cyclones gonna tear us to pieces!"

While her friends ran for their stations, Niri looked back at the Salamander.

_Axe...please, be alright...be safe and come back!_

Following the _Going Merry_ to nearby Bascud Island, the large group took refuge in a large cave hidden among the rocks with the other Straw Hats, and a small girl that was traveling with them. While most of them hid in the cave, Rayo and Niri stood outside with Usopp and Nam, staring at the huge cyclone and the _Salamander_ in the distance.

Niri didn't even seem to blink as she stared, worried sick for her childhood friend. Even though he had done some things that really pissed her off or got her into trouble...she didn't want to see him die. He may have been a jerk, but he didn't deserve death out here...not in a cyclone.

Rayo patted her on the shoulder, "Don't worry, Niri...Axe is tough. Why, I bet that right now, he's climbing off the boat and-," he stopped in midsentence, watching the _Salamander_ get torn to shreds by the massive water cyclone.

"Oh...that's not good,"

**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Kilnorc: Man...this didn't turn out to be as good as it was in my head. It's actually kinda hard to do since I'm trying to go along with the canon and doing the blowing up and the cyclones...harder than I thought. Anyhoo, one chapter left!  
**

**On the next chapter of Grand Prix...**

**Axe: Well, this sucks. I wanted a vacation, I screwed that up, I wanted to make up for it, and I nearly get my crew and myself killed...wonderful!**

**Niri: BAKA! DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT SORT OF STUNT AGAIN!  
**

**Dusty: Hey, since Luffy and the others got chased off by Marines...does that mean that we won the race?**

**DJ: I think so, Dusty-chan...**

**Madro: You come to claim your prize...but you get the pleasure of meeting me, Captain Axe.**

**Niri: What the f-?! ASHTON!?**

**Ashton: What's the matter, Niri? I thought you'd be happy to see me again? **

**Epilogue: Finish Line At Last!**

**Rayo: Where the hell do I collect my winnings?  
**


	17. Epilogue: Finish Line At Last!

**Epilogue: Finish Line At Last!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.**

**--------------------------------------------------****-----------------------------------------------------------**

The sky was no longer filled with thick, dark storm clouds and the sea was no longer ravaged by water cyclones. Axe lay back on the small boat he and three others occupied and looked up at the sky, watching the seagulls fly overhead.

"This is a joke right?" Shuraiya's voice asked from the other end of the boat, "I'm alive...,"

Axe lifted his head and looked at the bandaged bounty hunter from Gasparde's ship. He had taken quite a beaten from the former Marine and was lucky to be alive.

"It's not a joke,"

Axe turned and had to keep himself from laughing at the sight of the old man from the boiler room of the ship. He had multiple life preservers on his body...just in case he went overboard. Finally, as the bounty hunter and the old man talked, Axe turned his gaze to the sleeping, bandaged body of Monkey D. Luffy.

After his nakama boarded the ship, Axe had turned back to save the old man and the bounty hunter. He didn't expected the old man to help him out as well, but it seemed like good fortune to all four of them. While staying aboard the _Salamander_, Axe witnessed an event that would be spread through the nearest islands...further if anyone let it slip down the Grand Line. General Gasparde, the traitor Marine who had eaten a Devil Fruit, the man who had cheated in the race, and had a grand bounty of 95,000,000 Beli's...was defeated by the same rookie from East Blue that defeated the ex-Shichibukai, Crocodile.

_You always seem to impress me, Mugiwara..._ Axe slowly sat up and leaned against the edge of the lifeboat, _Well...this sucks. I wanted a vacation for my crew, and I screw that up. I tried to make up for with this race, and I nearly get us all killed...**wonderful!**_

The sound of someone calling out to them made Axe and the others look off to the side, towards Bascud Island. There, standing on some rocks just outside a cave hidden from view by larger rocks, was a small girl, Usopp, and Dusty, waving at them all.

Axe grinned, "They're safe," he lay his head on the railing and closed his eyes, waiting as the old man steered the lifeboat towards the island, "Thank you...,"

-----

"BAKA!"

_BOOM!_

"BAKA!"

_BOOM!_

"BAKA!!! DON'T YOU EVER DO A CRAZY STUNT LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

Kirsty and Dusty watched as Niri dropped her shotgun and hugged Axe tightly, her face buried in his chest. The kitsune turned to the doctor.

"I thought she was pissed at him?"

Her friend shrugged, "They've been friends a long, long time...I guess some feelings can still overcome past problems,"

Rayo cleared his throat, "I hate to interrupt, but I think it's safe to go now?"

A short time before, Axe made landfall on Bascud Island with the old man, bounty hunter, and Luffy. The Straw Hats had left almost immediately, taking advantage of Axe's nakama celebrating that their leader was alive and safe. Since the Straw Hats had a head start, they would be the first ones to reach Partia and would've won the prize money of 300,000,000 beli...if it weren't for the fact that a large group of Marine ships were waiting for them. From the safety of the island, the Axe-Heads watched as the _Going Merry_ was forced to flee from Partia, unable to collect their prize.

Dusty tapped the ground with her foot, "Hey, since Luffy and the others got chased off, does that mean we won the race?"

"I think so, Dusty-chan," DJ said with a slow nod, "But that's only if we get there soon, in case any other crews managed to get here,"

Everyone exchanged silent looks for a few moments, then they ran for the _Tomahawk_, eager to win the prize money that they so deserved.

-----

_"The Road goes ever on and on  
Down from the door where it began  
Now far ahead the Road has gone,  
And I must follow, if I can..."_

"What the hell are you singing?"

Axe shrugged, "A song I picked up in my travels, aniki..it's a good song. Catchy as hell, but good,"

Rayo rolled his eyes and looked around the busy streets of Partia, "Where the hell do I collect my winnings?"

"Our winnings," Niri whapped him upside the head, "We get the moolah, and you get your bet,"

Rayo rubbed his head, "Don't do that,"

While the others stayed at the ship, Rayo, Niri, and Axe were looking for a place that the bookkeeper from Hannabal could be staying at with their money. After coming to a crossroads, the three friends stopped and thought about what would be best.

"Rayo, hows about you go and check the taverns on the upper side of the island, while Niri and I check out the rest of the island?"

The informant nodded and waved, "Meet ya back here in about...an hour?" he asked as he started walking off.

"Sounds good!" Niri waved back at him with one hand and grabbed Axe's shirt, tugging him hard as she walked down the street, "C'mon, Cap'n, let's go get us some of that sweet, sweet money!"

As Niri and Axe explored the bars and backalleys, something caught their eyes in one of them. In a dark alley, plastered on the backwall of a tavern, was a large mess of bounty posters. Some of them they recognized easily, such as Buggy the Clown's, Don Krieg's, and even Arlong's old poster which now had an X mark drawn over it. But, what made them stop their search for the prize money were the latest posters.

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Monkey D. Luffy  
Reward: 100,000,000 Beli**

**WANTED DEAD OR A LIVE  
Roronoa Zolo  
Reward: 60,000,000**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Devon the Demon  
Reward: 40,000,000**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Kirsty Chambers aka "White Dragon Kirsty"  
Reward: 70,000,000**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Dustine "Dusty" Wenata aka "Fox Dust"  
Reward: 10,000,000**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Niri Zolaro  
Reward: 2,000,000**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Chizuru  
Reward: 3,500,000**

**WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE  
Duncan Jeffrey Macleod  
Reward: 7,000,000**

"Oh...my...God," Niri stared at the posters, "When the hell did this happen?!"

Axe frowned at the collection of posters, "Must've been after Alabasta...Luffy's bounty went up, and your bounties are actually in the normal range...,"

"Normal range for us, yeah, but look at Kirsty's and Devon's posters!" Niri ripped them off the wall, "What the hell is goin' on here?! Why'd they get big bounties all of a sudden?!"

Axe took the posters and scanned them, "I dunno, but I have a bad feeling about this,"

"I was wondering when I'd meet the man who turned down my generous offer," a cold voice from behind greeted.

In the blink of an eye, the two outlaws spun around and Axe stepped in front of Niri protectively as two figures stepped out of the shadows and into view. One looked like a victim of severe injuries, due to the large amount of bandages on his body. The second one was a tall, thin man with black hair, dressed in a green coat. Axe frowned. He knew who the latter was, even though he had never laid eyes on him before. Niri stared at the bandaged man for a long while, then her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"What the f-?!" she stopped herself, mind reeling, "ASHTON?!"

Axe looked at the mummified man, then at Niri, "Ashton? As in the dick from your Marine days?"

The bandaged man chuckled darkly, "What's the matter, Niri? I thought you'd be happy to see me again?"

Without a moment's hesitation, Niri pulled out her father's pistol and fired a shot that went straight through the left side of Ashton's chest. She blew the smoke from the barrel and huffed, "Traitor...,"

Ashton stumbled back, but regained his footing as blood began to flow out of the wound, "If you think that you can kill me with the gun of a dead man, you're mistaken,"

Niri gaped at him, both shocked and furious, "What the hell...? That was a kill shot!"

Again, Ashton chuckled and tapped the wound gingerly, "Thanks to a new friend of mine...I'm full of surprises,"

"Enough small talk," Stein Madro snapped, stepping forward, "You have come to claim your prize from the Dead End Race, Captain Axe, but instead, you have the pleasure of meeting me,"

"You call it a pleasure, I call it an inconvenience," Axe growled, slowly reaching for his weapon.

Madro shook his head, "I wouldn't do that, Axe...you even try to hurt me, and you'll end up dead before you know it. Then," his eyes drifted to Niri, "What could you do for your lovely friend over there?"

"What the hell do you want, Madro?"

The thin man shrugged, "Oh, nothing really. I just thought I would like to meet one of the few people who have denied my generous offer,"

"An offer that takes my family away from me," Axe shook his head, "I've had that problem before and I'll be damned if that comes up again,"

Ashton scoffed, "Damned one way, damned another way,"

"Shut the hell up, traitor," Niri snapped at him.

"You're one to talk, Zolaro," Ashton shot back, "Captain Baron died at your hands and now you're a pirate. As far as I can tell, we're the same,"

"You sonofa...," Niri started towards him, but Axe stopped her, "You're so lucky my Captain's here, otherwise I'd be kickin' you ass!"

"You wanna go, we can go right now!"

"Bring it, ya mummy bitch!"

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Madro roared angrily, "Captain Axe, I suggest you control your subordinate,"

"She's not my subordinate, she's my nakama...and I swear, if you do anything to her or any other my friends, I'll cut your head off and put it on my mast as a trophy!"

Madro smirked, "Brave words for a brat...," he took a deep breath and exhaled, "It seems that we've gotten off on the wrong foot, and that right now, we can't have a civilized chat. Perhaps we will meet up again in the future?" he turned around, "Come, Ashton, we have other matters to attend to,"

Ashton grinned wickedly at Niri before following his leader out of the alley. Niri backed into a wall and closed her eyes, gripping her father's pistol tightly.

Axe glanced over his shoulder to her, "You okay?"

"I need...," Niri started but stopped, her voice cracking, "I just need a few minutes,"

"Take your time," Axe said soothingly before looking back at where Madro and Ashton were standing moments before, _Great...another bunch of psychos that we gotta deal with. That's just so fuckin' perfect! Maybe aniki knows about these guys?_

-----

"That cannot be good," Rayo chewed on his last pocky stick, listening as Axe finished his story, "Not good at all,"

"No shit," Axe rubbed his forehead as he and Rayo walked around the docks, his nakama getting ready to leave, "Aniki, what the hell am I supposed to do here?!"

"First off, calm down," Rayo patted his shoulder gently, "Don't freak,"

"Don't freak?!" Axe repeated, "Aniki, I got my old crew wanting my head and my nakama's lives, they have big bounties and people besides Marines and bounty hunters coming after them, and you tell me not to freak out?!"

_WHAP!_

Rayo watched as Axe went down with a lump on his head, "Look...just calm down. I'm trying to help ya, kid,"

"By punching me?"

"Want me to kick you where the sun don't shine?"

"Not...particularly...no,"

"Then shut up," Rayo rubbed the bridge of his nose, getting annoyed, "If you want, I can dig up as much info as I can on this Madro guy for ya,"

"Really?" Axe shot to his feet, "You'd do that, even though you got the job from Devon and that sword, and God knows what else?"

Rayo nodded, "Of course, I'd do that, kid," he slugged Axe's shoulder, "I help out who I can...but there's something I gotta tell ya,"

"What's that?"

"You're paying me,"

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

Rayo grinned, "I'm just kidding...though, it would be nice," he scratched his head, "Get this...that bookie from Hannabal? He got killed on the way here...there's no prize money, and no bet winnings!"

Axe facefaulted, "You gotta be kidding me...how'd he die?!"

"Storm," Rayo shrugged, "Looks like Gasparde screwed him over too...otherwise, he'd be here with our money,"

"Damn...well, win some and lose some, right?" Axe grinned sheepishly, "This time, it's not my fault so-GACK!"

Rayo now held him in a headlock, "IT'S STILL YOUR FAULT, ROCKY! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOLD ME TO BET ON YOU!!"

"Aniki...I can't...I can't breathe!"

While the two wanted men went at it, a large bird watched them from a nearby pole. It let out a loud caw and took flight, flapping it's ebony wings rapidly. When it was out of range of sight from the island, the bird began to take a different form. It now looked like a man, but it still had black feathers protruding from it's flesh.

Damien, aka "Blood Raven", grinned to himself.

_Interesting development...bet my Captain would love to hear what her old friend is up to_ he thought as he flapped his mighty wings, gaining altitude.

After the rough patch, Rayo stood on the edge of the dock, watching as his young friend and his crew deported from Partia, their ship sailing away quickly. He waved at the ship until they were just a speck on the horizon.

"Good luck, kiddo...watch yourself and keep them close to you," he muttered, "I dunno what happened to your old crew, but I don't want you to lose this one and suffer the same pain,"

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Rayo turned and walked towards the town on the island again.

_"The Road goes ever on and on  
Down from the door where it began  
Now far ahead the Road has gone,  
And I must follow, if I can..."_

Rayo shook his head, "Damn, now I got that song stuck in my head! Damn you, Axe, even with you gone, you still manage to annoy me...,"

-----

Axe leaned against the railing on the side of his ship, thoughts and memories of the recent events repeating in his mind. First, the vacation that was ruined by the truth of his first crew and his bounty. Then, the race which nearly killed them all thanks to a clever Marine bastard. Finally, the so called invitation by a man worth almost as much as Black Crow himself.

He sighed and began to pluck at a large piece of wood that was coming off the railing, "So many things...," he clicked his tongue, "So little solutions at the moment,"

"AXE! AXE!" Dusty's scream ripped through the air, "DEVON AND NIRI ARE TRYING TO KILL ME AGAIN!"

The young captain couldn't help but smile. Despite the problems that plagued him and his crew at the moment, he was surprised at how easy the antics of his family could make the bad feelings go away in an instant.

Letting his First Mate and sharpshooter deal with Dusty themselves, Axe found himself in Chizuru's navigation area.

"Yes, Captain?"

"Chiz," he walked over and found her looking over some maps and different Poses she had collected, "Plot a course for Jaya...I have a promise to keep,"

**THE END**

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**Kilnorc: Yosh! Grand Prix is done and over with! I hope you've all enjoyed this as much as I've had writing it. Now, I had some ideas for the ending, but I had to cut some, so hehehe...yeah. Ahem, anyhoo, I'm aware that they said Jaya's next, but remember, I got an original arc next, so look forward to that! With this done, I can now concentrate on my fic, Midnight Riot, and maybe my GX and KOTOR fic before my new OP fic. Anyhoo, later ya'll, thanks for reading!**

**P.S. to those wondering, that song? It's from J.R.R. Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy. Somehow, I felt that fit in this chapter. Odd, eh? LOL, peace out.  
**


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